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Grace Pfumbidzayi

Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
Harare regional magistrate Ms Fadzai Mthombeni yesterday deferred to today judgment in the case in which two former Air Zimbabwe Holdings (Pvt) Ltd bosses are accused of defrauding the national airline of €5 175 593 and $502 748 in an alleged insurance scam.

Relatives, friends and spouses of the airline’s former secretary Grace Pfumbidzayi and former group chief executive Peter Chikumba yesterday converged at the court to hear their fate.

However, they left demoralised after Ms Mthombeni said she needed more time to prepare the judgment.

Chikumba and Pfumbidzayi are facing charges of criminal abuse of duty as public officers, and fraud.

The two were put to their defence after their application for discharge at the close of the State’s case was dismissed.

During trial, Chikumba in his defence, distanced himself from the appointment of Navistar Insurance Brokers saying Pfumbidzayi acted unilaterally, contrary to the organisation’s policy pertaining to the signing of business contracts.

Chikumba had earlier testified that he neither knew nor got involved in the appointment of Navistar.

“Navistar was appointed in the letter dated March 18 2009 and the second accused person did not address or copy to anyone else. I did not even sign it because I neither knew nor got involved in that appointment,” he said.

However, it was Pfumbidzayi’s submission that Chikumba was privy to processes all the stages leading to Navistar’s appointment.

She said Chikumba even chaired a meeting that resolved the appointment of Navistar Insurance Brokers for the airline.

“I was getting information that our fleet was not covered and it had been communicated to me that insurance had been terminated because of sanctions. This meant that the whole operation was illegal . . . because the implications were largely political and needed to be communicated upwards. I informed Chikumba, who in turn asked for my advice and the way forward.”

Pfumbidzayi said she was then instructed by Chikumba to “either ground the fleet or find alternative cover”.

She said Navistar came with their presentation before Chikumba and management on March 18, 2009.