Zimbabwe Justice Minister acquitted in bribery case

By Violet Gonda
3 September 2006

A Rusape magistrate on Monday dropped charges against Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who was accused of attempting to defeat the course of justice by trying to influence witnesses.

Constitutional Law expert Dr Lovemore Madhuku believes the whole case was decided before it even started; “It was clear that he (Chinamasa) was going to be acquitted, not on the basis that he is not guilty but that the whole trial was an attempt by the ZANU PF government to hoodwink the public and the international community that there is an operating justice system in Zimbabwe.”

The Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister was being accused of trying to persuade James Kaunye, a victim of intra party violence, to withdraw charges of assault against State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa.

Kaunye had, in the run up to the 2005 parliamentary elections, challenged Mutasa as the ZANU PF candidate after which a gang of 23 party members seriously assaulted him, allegedly on Mutasa’s orders. Mutasa has since been acquitted of these charges.

But charges against Chinamasa arose after the minister allegedly tried to coerce Kaunye into making a withdrawal of these public violence charges he had pressed against Mutasa.

This trial was filled with controversy from the beginning. It was reported last month that Attorney General Sobusa Gula Ndebele had to appoint retired magistrate Phineas Chipopoteke to preside over the case, after Rusape magistrates refused to handle the trial saying they had been intimidated by the State Security Minister.

When asked about this the Minister’s lawyer James Mtizwa told Newsreel; “As far as Minister Chinamasa was concerned, the magistrates refused to try his matter, a procedure called recusal, on the basis that the minister was their boss.”

But Dr Madhuku disagreed saying this shows the politicisation of the matter. He said Chinamasa is not the boss of magistrates but simply the Minister of Justice. The legal expert said magistrates do not report to the Minister but to the Public Service Commission alongside the Judiciary Service Commission. “ This shows that the judicial system in Zimbabwe is still not working. People put politics before everything else. Why should it be difficult for a court to try a Minister?” he asked.

Observers have said Mutasa’s threats to the judiciary appear to be a way of rewarding Chinamasa for interfering with witnesses in his own violence case in which he was exonerated.

Chinamasa faced a jail term had he been convicted.
In dismissing the case Mtizwa said the magistrate cited inconsistencies in Kaunye’s testimony.
Magistrate Chipokoteke said in court: "A close analysis shows inconsistency and evasiveness in the witness' evidence and, as always, evidence from one witness has to be treated with caution."
He added; "The (prosecution) has dismally failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and the accused is therefore found not guilty and acquitted."

But Dr Madhuku who has been following the prosecution’s case in court said the magistrate’s attempt to blame the prosecution is all part of the trick. “When you decide to acquit a person you always try to blame the state so we should not be misled by that attack by the magistrate.”
In his testimony James Kaunye told the court that Chinamasa made several ‘lucrative’ offers to him in exchange for the withdrawal of the charges. The offers included the construction of a dam at his Yorkshire farm in Headlands. Kaunye added that Chinamasa also promised that he would assist him get an offer letter for a farm in the area.
However, Chinamasa denied all this in his defence dismissing the charges against him as “baseless, false and malicious.” He argued that he went to visit Kaunye at his farm in Headlands to negotiate for a peaceful solution of the standoff between him and Mutasa.

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