HARARE – Business partners Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu have been denied bail by Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa. The magistrate ruled that the controversial pair could not be trusted to remain free while awaiting trial.
Chimombe and Mpofu are facing fraud charges related to the alleged failure to deliver goats to the Ministry of Lands and Agriculture for the Presidential Goat Scheme. Prosecutors claim the charges stem from tender documents submitted by the duo through their company, Blackdeck Private Limited, in September 2021. The ministry had invited bids for the supply of 632,001 goats under a scheme valued at US$87,757,168, intended for national distribution. Under the scheme’s terms, beneficiaries were to pass on the animals to the next needy household after they reproduced.
Magistrate Gofa ruled that Chimombe and Mpofu should remain in jail until their trial at the High Court. “The applicants might reoffend, cause people to demonstrate, they might flee to other countries, there are no bail conditions that alleviate fears, bail is hereby denied,” she stated.
Despite the ruling, the two businessmen are hopeful about their chances of securing bail at the High Court and plan to appeal Gofa’s decision soon. Advocate Ashiel Mugiya, representing the pair, expressed their intentions outside the court.
“We do not agree with that judgement, but we respect it as lawyers,” Mugiya told journalists. “We are officers of the court and where we are disgruntled with a judgement …if you are in an inferior court, you approach another court. So, our instructions from our clients were that in case the magistrates’ court denies us bail, we would appeal at the High court and that is precisely what we are going to do. We respect the court’s judgement, but we do not agree with it. There are issues which we feel if we take it to the High Court, the High Court will find differently.”
Chimombe and Mpofu are scheduled to return to court on August 7 for their indictment to the High Court for trial.
