Zimpapers Logo

Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
Former Air Zimbabwe chief executive officer Peter Chikumba yesterday took his case to the Supreme Court challenging the High Court decision to dismiss his appeal against both conviction and the seven-year jail term imposed on him.

Chikumba and his co-accused, Grace Pfumbidzayi, were convicted for swindling the airline of $10 million.

In a judgment handed down on Wednesday, Justice Edith Mushore threw out the appeals by both Chikumba and Pfumbidzayi without hearing arguments on the merits.

Adv Thabani Mpofu instructed by Rubaya and Chatambudza Legal Practitioners filed the notice and grounds of appeal in the Supreme Court seeking to set aside the lower court decision.

In her judgment, Justice Mushore ruled that there was no valid appeal before the court saying the grounds of appeal were not clear and specific.

But Adv Mpofu argues that the court erred when consideration is given to the fact that the lower court did not attempt to show why it came to that conclusion that grounds were in fact invalid.

“The court aquo erred in coming to the conclusion that findings of fact made in a criminal trial are not as a matter of law appeallable and grossly misdirected itself in making a determination ex mero muto (mere motion of a party’s own free will) on issues that it had not canvassed with the parties and that had not been argued before it,” he says.

“The court a quo misdirected itself and completely lost its path in that it failed to deal with the only petition that was before it, namely the application to amend the grounds of appeal.”

Adv Mpofu also attacked the lower court decision on the basis that it erred in holding that no application for condonation for the late filing of amended grounds of appeal had been made before it.

He contends that the court confused itself when consideration is given to the fact that it later held that it could not entertain the application for condonation which had admittedly been made.

“The court a quo erred and took leave of its senses in coming to the conclusion that appellant could be and barred in his own appeal and so erred in coming to that conclusion as a result of treating appellant’s heads of argument as pro non scripto (as never written),” he argues.

Adv Mpofu also fired a salvo at the lower court accusing it for making outrageous costs award in a criminal appeal without laying a legal basis for making such an award.

Chikumba, who was the airline’s chief executive, and former company secretary Pfumbidzayi, were found guilty of criminal abuse of office, but were freed on bail pending appeal.

Chikumba and Pfumbidzayi appealed against both conviction and sentence, arguing that they were wrongly convicted and that the sentence was excessive.

Charges against Pfumbidzayi and Chikumba arose after an anomaly was discovered by former Air Zimbabwe board chairman Mr Ozias Bvute pertaining to amounts paid between April 2009 and April 2013 to a company called Navistar Insurance Brokers (Private) Limited in respect of aviation insurance premiums.

Pfumbidzayi and Chikumba also inflated aviation insurance premiums payments made to Colemont Reinsurance Brokers (Private) Limited and Reinsurance Brokers (Private) Limited, both United Kingdom-based companies.

The firm released €15 452,93 to Navistar, €10 607 859,22 to the two British companies, while they pocketed €5 895 695,49.