TWO Makokoba MDC-T officials, who were being charged with conducting a public meeting without police clearance, were yesterday found not guilty and acquitted.
SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER
Ward 7 councilor James Sithole (41) and MDC-T secretary for Makokoba district Cornelius Tanganyika (51) were being charged with contravening the Public Order and Security Act Chapter 11:17.
Bulawayo magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure said the State had failed to prove a prima facie case against the two.
There was only one State witness Sipho Billa, a Bulawayo City Council employee and caretaker at Stanely Square in Makokoba, the venue of the alleged illegal meeting. Last week he told the court that the meeting was held at the Tshaka Youth Centre committee room.
In their defence, Sithole and Nyatsanga denied that they ever held a public meeting saying it was instead an MDC-T Makokoba district internal meeting which was held in a committee room and not at a public hall as alleged by the State.
They said the meeting did not require them to notify the police or seek any clearance.
