Corruption Accused Businessman Mike Chimombe And Moses Mpofu Spend The Night In Remand Prison

According to the NPA, the two businessmen forged a ZIMRA Tax Clearance certificate and NSSA compliance certificate under Blackdeck Private Limited and submitted them to the Ministry of Lands. This was all so that they would get a tender to supply goats for the Presidential Goat Pass-on scheme.

Investigations later revealed that the QR code and reference on the NSSA certificate belonged to a different company. The Ministry of Lands, acting on the misrepresentation, paid a total of ZWL 1.6 billion to the company in 2021. The accused persons misrepresented that they had delivered 32,500 goats while they only supplied 4 208. The rest of the money, worth over US$ 7 million, was used for personal use and never recovered.

• Mike Chimombe And Moses Mpofu Arrested For Stealing Money Meant For Presidential Goats

Chimombe and Mpofu Spend The Night In Custody

Mpofu and Chimombe are set to spend the night in custody and will return to court the following day. The State, represented by Anesu Chirenje, requested that their bail hearing be scheduled for Thursday. Chirenje mentioned the need to confirm whether the accused had voluntarily appeared in court or were escorted by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).

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Defence’s Counterarguments

Represented by their lawyers Tapson Dzvetero and Arshiel Mugiya, Mpofu and Chimombe opposed the delay in the bail ruling. They argued that, according to the law, they should be granted free bail as they were not apprehended but came from their homes.