SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
The trial of MDC-T election agent Morgan Komichi will continue Wednesday, with the cross-examination of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission official Tendai Pamire entering a third day. Pamire is the second in a list of a possible 15 witnesses that will take the stand, according to defence lawyer Alec Muchadehama. Komichi is facing electoral fraud charges, after the Electoral Commission accused him of tampering with ballot papers that he says were retrieved from a dustbin located at the Special Vote Command Centre. Komichi, who has been in custody since his arrest on July 28th, denies the charges. His party says the election agent is being used as scapegoat for the shambolic manner in which ZEC conducted the whole electoral process. Last Monday under cross-examination, Pamire told the court that he could not recall details concerning the ballot papers allegedly found in Komichi’s possession. Pamire said he did not handle the ballots and neither took a close look at them or checked whether or not they were marked. But lawyer Muchadehama queried Pamire’s “faulty memory” as it emerged that he had told the police there were three ballot papers marked in favour of the MDC-T. On Tuesday Muchadehama continued to quiz Pamire about his version of what transpired from the time Komichi arrived with the ballot papers at the ZEC offices. Meanwhile, High Court Judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu is on Thursday expected to make a ruling in a case in which 28 MDC-T supporters are seeking discharge. The 28 activists are charged with murdering a police officer, Inspector Petros Mutedza in Glen View two years ago. The ruling had been scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed to make way for the opening of Zimbabwe’s 8th parliament. In their application for discharge of the 28 accused, four of whom are still held in remand prison, their lawyers argued that the State had failed to prove its case against them, and hence they should be set free. One of the accused, Rebecca Mafukeni, died in custody last month while awaiting Bhunu’s decision. The MDC-T supporters were arrested in 2011 accused of murdering Mutedza who was part of a police detail attacked while attending to reports of political disturbances in Glen View.