Former Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Prisca Mupfumira, who was facing charges of corruption involving US$90 million National Social Security Authority (NSSA) funds, has been found not guilty and acquitted of the charges after a full trial.
Mupfumira was facing criminal abuse of office charges. She was accused of “corruptly” influencing a US$90 million property development deal between NSSA and Drawcard Enterprises.
According to NewZimbabwe.com, Deputy Chief Magistrate Ngoni Nduna delivered the judgement on Saturday, 15 June 2024.
Mupfumira was accused of handpicking Drawcard, a land development firm without going to tender, and pressuring NSSA into entering an agreement with the company.
Nduna cleared Mupfumira of wrongdoing ruling that she never sat on the NSSA Board and, therefore, cannot be accused of handpicking Drawcard Enterprises. He said:
Her cry that she may have been a mere victim is not far-fetched. The court comes to this conclusion because there is all the evidence, in black and white, that NSSA Board proceeded on its own resolution in the execution of the Mzenya Project, but the State persisted with her prosecution.
The court further noted that there were no minutes of meetings where the accused was recorded forcing NSSA to engage Drawcard.
The magistrate said it is clear that Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) provisions were superseded by the resolution of June 30, 2017, from application on Offtake Housing Projects and the identification and engagement of a developer. He said:
The only conclusion to be arrived at is that NSSA did not go to tender because they resolved not to do so.
Accused was not part of the deliberations where that resolution was arrived at. If ever PRAZ applied to the projects, it is the legal advisors in NSSA who should be held liable for not properly advising the board on legal issues.
They let the board subvert a statutory provision. And persons who could have erred, in the face of clear evidence, were lined as witnesses against the accused.
Mupfumira, who was represented by Admire Rubaya of Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners, denied the allegations, arguing that she was a victim of circumstances.
She claimed her prosecution was driven by individuals who were against her loyalty towards President Emmerson Mnangagwa during his time as the vice president.
Mupfumira also denied handpicking Drawcard stating that it was the responsibility of the board of NSSA, and the court concurred with her.
The court said it is the legal service department at NSSA that failed to properly advise the board.
Mupfumira was jointly charged with a director at NSSA, Barnabas Matongera, who was discharged at the close of the State’s case.
Magistrate Nduna was appointed a High Court judge by President Emmerson Mnangagwa among 11 other judges. They will be sworn in on Monday by Chief Justice Luke Malaba.
