By Court Reporter
High Court judge Justice Benjamin Chikowero has thrown out an application for discharge filed by former Cabinet Minister Walter Mzembi.
The ex-Cabinet Minister is currently in custody, facing allegations of criminal abuse of office related to his time in office.
It is the State’s case that Mzembi donated public viewing screens to three churches without the required Treasury approval.
The churches cited in the matter are Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries, led by Walter Magaya; United Family International Church (UFIC), founded by Emmanuel Makandiwa; and Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), associated with Nehemiah Mutendi.
The court heard that while similar donations to government departments had received Treasury approval, the donations made to the churches did not have concurrence from the Ministry of Finance. It was further submitted that the property in question was State-owned and could not legally be donated to private entities.
However, witnesses who testified in court recently exonerated the ex-Minister of all the allegations raised by the State before the subsequent closure of the State’s case.
Following the ruling, the matter was postponed to 3 March 2026, when Mzembi is expected to open his defence case.
