Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. ALPHA Media Holdings (AMH) editors have challenged their prosecution on charges of undermining President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
AMH editor-in-chief Kholwani Nyathi and Zimbabwe Independent editor Faith Zaba appeared in court yesterday.
The two, who are being represented by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR)’s Nontokozo Dube-Tachiona, appeared before Harare magistrate Kudzai Mtombeni.
Their lawyer asked the court to order the State to produce the required certificate or acquit the editors in terms of the law and section 34 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Code).
Dube-Tachiona argued that the prosecution had no legal basis to prosecute without the Attorney-General’s authority, adding that prosecution under current circumstances was illegal.
Section 34 of the Code stipulates that the Attorney-General should authorise prosecutions under Chapter III, which covers various crimes against the State and public order, such as terrorism, sedition and undermining the authority of the President.
This means that for offences specified under Chapter III, the Attorney-General’s office must give formal approval before prosecution proceeds.
“Section 34 of the Code is clear. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) can only initiate prosecutions of persons accused of Chapter III crimes with the authority of the AG,” Dube-Tachiona stated.
“In this case no such authority was sought and none was given. My clients have appeared before this court three times prior to this date and I had advised the prosecutors that this case cannot proceed if the prosecution was not authorised to initiate the prosecution without the AG’s authority.
“In the absence of that authority, which clearly the NPA doesn’t have, the accused persons must be unconditionally released.
“This court cannot exercise discretion to allow continuation of the prosecution when an Act of Parliament prohibits the prosecution.
“If they were given authority, he (the prosecutor) must produce proof of such since he says the matter is ready for trial,” she further argued.
The State led by Lawrence Gangarahwe, however, asked the court for more time to respond to the defence application, leading Magistrate Mtombeni to postpone the matter to September 8 for determination.
Zaba and Nyathi, representing AMH, are being accused of undermining the authority of or insulting the President through Zimbabwe Independent’s satirical Muckraker column titled When you become a mafia State carried in its June 27-July 3, 2025 edition.
The column criticised Zimbabwe’s leadership during its chairmanship of Sadc, pointing out allegations of Zimbabwe’s involvement in electoral fraud in Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia.
It further alleged that Zimbabwe had become a “mafia State” run by a government “obsessed with clinging to power through political chicanery”.
The State claims the article, which was accompanied by a photograph of Mnangagwa and Mozambican President Daniel Chapo, was “false in material particulars” and intended to incite hostility against the President.
Zaba was arrested on July 1 and released on US$200 bail on July 4. She had spent three nights in detention and her release was initially delayed due to a power outage that prevented the magistrate from typing his ruling.
As part of her bail conditions, Zaba was ordered to surrender her passport, reside at her given address, not to interfere with investigations and report weekly at Criminal Investigation Department Law and Order Harare Central Police Station.
In granting her bail, Harare magistrate Vakayi Chikwekwe said bail was a constitutional right.
Through their lawyer, Zaba and Nyathi previously argued that the facts presented by the State did not constitute a criminal offence.
They said the arrests were unlawful, rooted in opinion and criticism rather than criminal conduct.
“In a democracy, one cannot be arrested merely for expressing an opinion where freedoms of the media and expression are guaranteed,” the defence submitted, adding that remanding the editors restricted AMH’s mandate to inform the public and violated the principles of democracy.
They further noted that the article’s use of the word “we”, which in plural form, was not directed at the President, yet the State saw it fit to criminalise it as an insult.
The editors challenged their placement on remand, insisting that the charges amounted to harassment of independent journalism.
AMH are the publishers of Zimbabwe Independent, The Standard, NewsDay and Southern Eye and also runs the online Heart & Soul TV.
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