MARTIN MAWAYA
MASVINGO—The High Court has acquitted Gweru businessman and farmer Charles Simbi and his wife, Zodwa, of forgery and fraud charges linked to a disputed resettlement offer letter for a plot at Kanuck Farm along the Gweru-Shurugwi Road.
Justices Sunsley Zisengwe and Christopher Dube-Banda sitting at the High Court in Masvingo yesterday upheld the couple’s appeal and overturned both conviction and sentence imposed by the lower court.
“The appeal against conviction on both counts is hereby upheld and consequently the sentence imposed is quashed,” reads part of the judgment.
“The decision of the magistrates court is hereby substituted by the following; that each accused, meaning the appellants, is hereby found not guilty and acquitted on each count.”
The couple had been convicted by Gweru provincial magistrate Beaulity Dube last year and sentenced to an effective jail term after being found guilty of forgery and fraud involving a resettlement permit.
The State alleged that Simbi used his wife to forge an offer letter falsely claiming that they had been allocated Plot 42 at Kanuck Farm under the land reform programme.
Prosecutors further claimed that the allegedly forged document was later used to assert ownership of a 10-hectare plot where gold deposits had reportedly been discovered.
However, in their appeal, the Simbis, represented by lawyers Esau Mandipa of Mandipa, Makwara and Chikukwa Legal Practitioners and Brian Muzenda of Hore and Partners, argued that the trial court had erred both in law and fact when it convicted and sentenced them in November last year.
They maintained that the resettlement permit at the centre of the dispute was genuine and had been lawfully obtained from the relevant authorities.
The appellants further argued that the trial magistrate misdirected herself by applying the doctrine of common purpose in circumstances where it was not applicable.
They also submitted that the lower court improperly shifted the burden of proof onto them by expecting them to prove their innocence instead of requiring the State to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Simbi is among the 53 beneficiaries allocated land at Kanuck 4 Farm under the fast track agrarian reform programme, which seeks to address colonial land imbalances and broaden access to agricultural land for all citizens.
