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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
Former MDC-T Buhera South legislator Tangwara Matimba has appeared in court charged with theft of trust property after he sold a house on behalf of a couple living in the US and pocketed US$95 000.Matimba (46) owns Property Hopes Real Estate.

He is represented by Mr John Ndomene of Thondlanga and Associates. Matimba denied the allegations arguing everything he did was approved by the complainant, Liberty Madzingira, who is based in the United States of America.

“We were given the green light to sell the house by its owners on their behalf. We told them that we could get buyers who could pay between US$80 000 and US$90 000.

“We told the person who was renting the house, Brian Mafirambudzi, about the sale and he showed interest in buying the house. He then paid US$70 000 in instalments but Liberty’s brother Jimias refused to accept the money arguing that they had agreed on US$95 000 and not US$70 000,” he said.

Matimba said his company was holding onto the money while looking for the US$25 000 balance. Jimias said he only knew that his brother’s house had been sold after confronting Mafirambudzi when he stopped paying rentals. Mafirambudzi told him he bought the house for US$95 000 from Matimba.

Jimias told the court that Matimba never informed him about the sale. Mafirambudzi confirmed paying US$95 000 to Matimba when he took to the witness stand. Receipts produced in court showed Mafirambudzi paid US$95 000 and not US$70 000 as alleged by Matimba.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court yesterday cleared MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his lawyers of any wrongdoing in an electoral case in which they sought the release of election material relevant for use in a petition Mr Tsvangirai was challenging last year’s presidential election results.

Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, presiding over the Electoral Court, last year ruled that the lawyers — including Advocate Lewis Uriri, Mr Alec Muchadehama and Dr Tarisai Mutangi were in contempt of court for making scathing attacks on the judiciary and urged the prosecuting authority to take appropriate action in terms of the law.

The court also blasted Mr Tsvangirai, describing his conduct as that of a confused and unstable man not fit for the highest office in the  land.

Yesterday Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba, sitting with Justices Paddington Garwe and Ben Hlatshwayo, suspended part of Justice Bhunu’s order that held Mr Tsvangirai and his lawyers in contempt of court. The court also set aside the order for costs on a higher scale than had been granted against Mr Tsvangirai by Justice Bhunu.

“It is ironic that having made those scathing disparaging remarks of and concerning the entire judiciary of this country, the applicant and his lawyers are now seeking justice before the same Judiciary in which they have no confidence,” Justice Chinembiri Bhunu said.

“His (Mr Tsvangirai’s) conduct in this regard is symptomatic of an unbalanced convoluted mindset unbefitting a man of his stature and station,” he said.

The judge blamed the lawyers more.
“While the applicant’s (Mr Tsvangirai’s) reprehensible conduct in this respect may be attributable to ignorance of the law, the same cannot be said of his lawyers.

“As officers of the court, they filed and sought to rely on the appalling document from which they now seek to resile with the full knowledge that their conduct was patently unethical,” he said.

Yesterday Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba, sitting with Justices Paddington Garwe and Ben Hlatshwayo, suspended part of Justice Bhunu’s order that held Mr Tsvangirai and his lawyers to be in contempt of court.

The court also set aside the order of costs on a higher scale than had been granted against Mr Tsvangirai by Justice Bhunu.

“By consent, it is ordered as follows: The appeal against a judgment of the court a quo succeeds with no order as to costs to the extent that part of the order referring to alleged contemptuous conduct of the aappellant and his legal practitioners and that the judgment being referred to the Attorney General or national Prosecuting Authority for investigation, and part of the order directing the appellant to pay costs, are hereby set aside,” part of the order reads.

After agreeing on the setting aside of the order of contempt of court, Advocate Uriri who was representing Mr Tsvangirai abandoned part of the appeal in which they challenged the dismissal of the Electoral Court application on the basis of lack of jurisdiction and lack of urgency.

The quashing of the order of costs on a higher scale saved Mr Tsvangirai who was now facing attachment of property to recover legal costs that had been calculated as US$8 000.