Innocent Ruwende Senior Court Reporter
THE ruling on an application for discharge by former Chitungwiza Town Clerk Godfrey Tanyanyiwa, accused of corruptly concealing from a principal personal interest involving US$470 000, has been deferred for the second time. Magistrate Mr Hosea Mujaya yesterday postponed the matter to September 26 after it emerged that the video he requested was in Gweru.
The video is alleged to have been recorded by one of the State witnesses who testified in the case.
Mr Mujaya said the State would have to apply for the video to be viewed in court since it had closed its case.
This was after Tanyayiwa’s lawyer Mr Admire Rubaya asked about the procedure through which the video would be produced in court.
Tanyanyiwa is facing various counts of criminal abuse of office.
Mr Mujaya said he had only seen the transcript of the video in which the witness claimed to have recorded a transaction he carried out with Tanyanyiwa.
On the first fraud case, Tanyanyiwa, well knowing that he had no money to buy a house, allegedly hatched a plan to defraud Chitungwiza municipality  and took US$165 000 from council to buy a house in Chisipite.
On charges of corruptly concealing a personal interest in a transaction from a principal, the State said that during the period extending from September to December last year, Tanyanyiwa allegedly offered the Chisipite house through his estate agent for rental to Chitungwiza municipality director of urban planning Mr Conrad Muchesa.
It is alleged that Tanyanyiwa, with the intention to deceive, did not disclose his personal interest in the house to his principal.
Council ended up paying him US$1 300 per month for five months as rental for his property.
As a result, council suffered a prejudice of US$6 500.
Tanyanyiwa is also accused of criminal abuse of duty after he allegedly corruptly acquired three commercial stands using names of three different shelf companies.
He allegedly prejudiced his employer of US$170 000 when he diverted funds meant for the purchase of three Toyota Fortuners for other senior officials to buy his Toyota Land Cruiser V8.