Harare - Harare Magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe has rejected a proposal that a warrant of arrest be issued for Higher and Tertiary Education, Science, and Technology Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo.
Chikwekwe said on Saturday that Moyo had never been summoned to appear in court and should not be issued with a warrant of arrest. Prosecutor Lovett Masuku had proposed that the court issue a warrant of arrest after Moyo failed to appear in the court where he was jointly charged with his deputy Godfrey Gandawa and Zimdef principal director of finance Nicholas Makute.
The three were facing charges of defrauding Zimdef, a parastatal in Moyo's ministry, of more than $400 000 (about R5,4 million). Gandawa and Mukute were each granted $500 bail and ordered to surrender their travel documents.
They were also ordered to report to their respective police stations three times a week and not to interfere with state witnesses. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court on Friday suspended all criminal proceedings against Moyo pending determination of a Constitutional challenge on whether the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has powers of arrest.
African News Agency