HARARE, Jan. 7 (NewsDay Live) – A High Court judge has reserved judgment in an application by businessmen Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court their conviction and sentence in the goat scandal.
The two were last month convicted and sentenced to 12 and 17 years in prison, respectively, after a full trial for defrauding the government of US$7,7 million through a presidential goat tender scheme.
Their lawyers applied for leave to appeal against both conviction and sentence, arguing that the High Court misdirected itself by finding them guilty when the essential elements of fraud had not been proved.
Justice Pisirayi Kwenda said he required time to study the application and the State’s response.
“I have seen the application filed and the State’s response to it. I need time to consider the papers, and judgment will be delivered in due course without undue delay,” he said.
Speaking to the media after the hearing, the pair’s legal representatives said they would wait for the outcome.
“We are not worried because that is a normal procedure. Since we agreed that the court would deal with the matter on the papers, this is perfectly normal,” one of the lawyers said.
“Our clients are not unhappy. We expect that, in the shortest possible time, the judge will hand down his order. It is likely to be an order simply granting or denying leave to appeal.”
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If leave is not granted, Chimombe and Mpofu have said they will petition the Supreme Court directly to appeal the decision.
