TRADITIONAL leaders facing allegations of illegally allocating residential and agricultural land have signalled their intention to approach the Constitutional Court, challenging the constitutionality of their prosecution.
Chief Mphini, born Jabulani Ndiweni, was arrested alongside village heads Howard Nkomo and Madoja Mafa on a charge of criminal abuse of duty as public officers, stemming from alleged unauthorised land allocations in Bulilima district.
The trio is accused of violating section 175 of Statutory Instrument 61 of 2013, amid claims that they allocated stands without the approval of the Bulilima Rural District Council and in breach of established land administration procedures.
The traditional leaders, however, dispute the charge, arguing that it is contrary to their role as traditional leaders as enshrined in section 282 of the Constitution, often discussed alongside the Communal Land Act enacted in 1982 and the Rural District Council Act of 1987.
Section 282 vests traditional leaders with the authority to administer communal land, manage natural resources and resolve disputes, subject to parliamentary law.
The section empowers chiefs, headmen and village heads to oversee land allocation in accordance with customary law and the Traditional Leaders Act.
The trio is accused of illegally allocating residential and agricultural land to land seekers without the authority of the Bulilima Rural District Council, involving corruption.
They have since appeared before the Plumtree Magistrate Court three times, where they pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The trio’s lawyer, Prince Butshe Dube, told the court last Wednesday that his clients intend to file an application for leave to appeal to the ConCourt regarding the constitutionality of the matter.
They contended that the lower court cannot decide on the alignment of the law with the Constitution.
The matter was remanded to April 28, when the trio will lodge an application for leave to appeal to the ConCourt.
Dube indicated that they intend to file the application within seven days.
The State must respond to the application by May 4, before the magistrate makes a ruling.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) arrested Chief Mphini and the village heads on charges of criminal abuse of duty as public officers.
On their arrest, Zacc commissioner Kindness Paradza stated that the alleged offences occurred between 2020 and 2025.
During this period, Chief Mphini allegedly allocated stands ranging from 750 square metres to 7 500 square metres to at least 29 beneficiaries without following procedure.
Allegations are that the land seekers were charged between US$2 000 and US$2 500 per stand.
However, of the 29 beneficiaries interviewed, only two admitted to paying and no receipts or proof of payment was produced.
It is alleged that Chief Mphini allocated five other stands in connivance with village head Mafa and 12 with village head Nkomo.
Acting independently, village head Mafa allegedly allocated one stand, while Nkomo allocated 12 stands without council authority.
Zacc said seven original certificates of household occupancy were recovered from beneficiaries, while three copies were obtained from individuals who claimed to have misplaced the originals.
It is stated that further findings indicated duplication in allocation records, with some spouses listed separately as beneficiaries for a single stand, inflating the number of allocations to 125.
Notices from the Bulilima RDC instructing beneficiaries to stop developments on the disputed land were also recovered.
A total of 59 statements were recorded from beneficiaries during investigation.