MARTIN MAWAYA
Gweru Provincial Magistrate Tavengwa Sangster today (Thursday) acquitted senior opposition politician and the August 2023 Chirumhanzu South CCC parliamentary candidate, Patrick Cheza for malicious damage to property.
Cheza was accused of tearing a US$1 exercise book belonging to a shadowy ZANU-PF offshoot called Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) member Julius Kunodziya.
Delivering the ruling this afternoon, Magistrate Sangster dismissed the case, saying there was no evidence to prove that Cheza committed the offense and was at the venue during the material time.
He added that Kunodziya and the other state witness, Alistar Chakanyuka, failed to corroborate their evidence as it was marred by inconsistencies.
Speaking in an interview with The Midweek Watch after the ruling, Cheza, who was represented by prominent lawyers Esau Mandipa and Leopold Mudisi, said his acquittal proved his innocence and that he did not commit any crime.
“Today’s judgment is a strong decision that has been taken for the justice system to acquit me. It has been proven before on the other four cases that I did not commit those crimes. The political persecution never stopped, it keeps on going, and I’m glad that I have been set free,” said Cheza.
He said he will continue to serve the community regardless of the persecution.
One of his legal counsel, Mandipa, added that “there is no way the court can convict my client with such discrepancies.”
It was the state’s case that last year, on May 31, around 11 am, Cheza went to Mazvimba Primary School, where he found Kunodziya sitting by the gate.
The court heard that Cheza grabbed Kunodziya’s two-quire counter book worth one dollar and tore it into two pieces, before leaving the scene.
The state alleged that the book contained names of ZANU-PF members who had no identification cards and some names of war veterans.
Monica Mungwena prosecuted.
