FORMER Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) chief executive Henrietta Rushwaya yesterday engaged Charles Chinyama as her new lawyer after her other lawyers, Dumisani Mthombeni, Jonathan Samukange and Tafadzwa Hungwe, once again appeared to have dumped her.
Report by Phillip Chidavaenzi
When the case opened yesterday morning, one of the lawyers, Mthombeni, apologised to the court for his team’s conduct the previous day when they failed to turn up for proceedings. He then made the same application for the matter to be postponed saying his colleague — Samukange — was busy with other matters at the High Court.
Regional magistrate Esthere Chivasa had turned down the application by Mthombeni on the basis that the defence had not been able to convince the court why the matter should be postponed. She also said the excuse that lead counsel Samukange was attending to four matters in the High Court was not captured in the case record and therefore unacceptable.
“The defence counsel is clearly taking the court for a ride. There is nothing placed in the record to indicate that Samukange is at the High Court,” she said. Mthombeni then asked for time to get instructions from Samukange, which time was granted with the court briefly adjourning for about 30 minutes. When the court resumed sitting Mtombeni was nowhere to be seen and instead, Chinyama came to represent Rushwaya.
He asked the court for time to go through the case records and to get instructions from the accused.
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The State consented and Chivasa moved the matter to November 19 and 20.
Rushwaya is facing charges of corruptly concealing transactions from a principal in the Asiagate football match-fixing scandal.