{"id":43247,"date":"2021-07-10T12:04:49","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T10:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=43247"},"modified":"2021-07-10T12:01:02","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T10:01:02","slug":"mphoko-fails-to-institute-blackout-on-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mphoko-fails-to-institute-blackout-on-trial","title":{"rendered":"Mphoko Fails To Institute Blackout On Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>By Mary Taruvinga<\/b> – THE trial of former Zimbabwe Vice President Phelekhezela Mphoko, who is accused of criminal abuse of office, will now be heard in an open court.<\/p>\n

Mphoko wanted the matter to be heard in a closed session arguing the information he would give would compromise state security.<\/p>\n

He is facing criminal abuse of office charges after he, in 2016, allegedly ordered police officers at the Avondale Police Station in Harare to release two former Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) Moses Juma and Davison Norupiri bosses.<\/p>\n

The two senior officials had been arrested on graft allegations.<\/p>\n

Last month, the High Court ordered Juma to start serving his two-year jail term after his appeal against sentence was quashed. He was convicted of engaging contractors with following due tender processes.<\/p>\n

However, Mphoko\u2019s trial commenced last year, and the state led by Lovett Masuku told court the former VP\u2019s defence outline contained information which would compromise state security if heard before the public, and the media.<\/p>\n

Only Mphoko\u2019s wife and daughter were allowed into the court during its closed session.<\/p>\n

However, the case will now be heard in an open court as the former VP has finished giving his testimony.<\/p>\n

Harare Magistrate Stanford Mambanje Friday remanded the matter to August 31 for trial continuation after the presiding magistrate Trynos Utawashe failed to turn up.<\/p>\n

The State alleges that on July 14, 2016, the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) officers went to Avondale Police Station to pick up the accused ZINARA directors for them to appear in court but discovered Mphoko had the previous evening ordered for their immediate release.<\/p>\n

The State alleges Mphoko\u2019s actions in releasing the two suspects were inconsistent with his duties.<\/p>\n

At the time, Juma was the acting chief executive and Norupiri was a board member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Mary Taruvinga – THE trial of former Zimbabwe Vice President Phelekhezela Mphoko, who is accused of criminal abuse of office, will now be heard in an open court. Mphoko wanted the matter to be heard in a closed session arguing the information he would give would compromise state security. He is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":43246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,12,15],"tags":[1493,2189,19],"class_list":["post-43247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nMphoko Fails To Institute Blackout On Trial - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Mary Taruvinga - THE trial of former Zimbabwe Vice President Phelekhezela Mphoko, who is accused of criminal a ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mphoko-fails-to-institute-blackout-on-trial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mphoko Fails To Institute Blackout On Trial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Mary Taruvinga - 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