Harare - Two former Zimbabwean cabinet
ministers who served under ex-president Robert Mugabe have been
charged with corruption, their lawyers said on Saturday, the
latest sign of a crackdown on officials loyal to Mugabe.
Mugabe, 93, stood down in November after 37 years in power
following a de facto military coup, making way for his former
deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over.
When the military seized power they arrested key allies of
Mugabe and his wife, Grace, who was vying with Mnangagwa to
succeed her husband.
Former foreign minister Walter Mzembi and ex-energy minister Samuel Undenge were charged on Friday with "criminal abuse of office", their lawyers said. They both deny wrongdoing.
Undenge is accused of issuing a $12,650 contract without due
tender to a company that did no work, according to a charge
sheet seen by Reuters.
Mzembi and Undenge were both granted bail on Saturday, asked
to surrender their passports and remanded until Jan. 22 when
their cases will be heard.
"We are going to make an application for an exception to the
charge because the charges that my client is facing are
ridiculous," Job Sikhala, Mzembi's lawyer, told reporters
outside the court.
Undenge's lawyer Alex Muchadehama described the case against
his client as a "circus".
Former finance minister Ignatius Chombo is on bail after
being charged in November over accusations he tried to defraud
the central bank over a decade ago. Chombo denies wrongdoing.