ZBC BOSSES ACQUITTED:

ZIMBABWE Broadcasting Corporation’s acting chief executive Patrick Mavhura and acting head of finance and administration Benania Shumba were last Friday acquitted on allegations of non-procedurally acquiring 35 vehicles from Croco Motors.

Though their lawyers, Messrs Admire Rubaya and Oliver Marwa, Mavhura and Shumba applied for exception to the charge.

They were facing criminal abuse of office charges.

In their application for exception, the pair submitted that the charge did not disclose the offence.

“There is no way the accused can be tried on the basis of an offence which does not apply to them,” they said.

“The offence applied to a special species of individuals known as public officers of which the accused do not qualify to be called public officers.

“This means that they cannot be answerable to a charge that does not exist or do not apply to them.”

The prosecutor, Ms Junior Mugebe, opposed the application saying the argument had already been determined by the remand court.

“ZBC is a corporate body of a public character because it is listed as a procuring entity in terms of the Procurement Act,” said Ms Mugebe.

“It is also allowed to collect revenue from listeners and its employees are State employees.

“Its board is appointed by a minister and shares of the company are shared by the Government.”

In his ruling, regional magistrate Mr Elijah Makomo said the State’s argument was not only incorrect but misleading as a matter of fact and law.

“It is not correct that a minister appoints the board of the company, the shareholders do in terms of the Companies Act,” said Mr Makomo.

“That the majority shareholder is the Government does not mean the same thing as the minister appointing a board.

“Like in the case of Peter Chikumba, to say the chief executive officer of Air Zimbabwe, a private company, is the same thing as a paid office in the service of the State is absurd.

“Circumstances of ZBC are similar in that ZBC Commercialisation Act 26/2001 repealed the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Act Chapter 12:01 thus dissolving the statutory body to form the private company.”

Mr Makomo concluded that Mavhura and Shumba are not public officers before squashing their charge.

Mavhura and Shumba were accused of buying 35 vehicles from Croco Motors without following due process, prejudicing Government of $20 000.

They faced another charge of potentially prejudicing ZBC of $738 900.