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Nyore Madzianike

Senior Court Reporter

MDC-Alliance members Joana Mamombe and Cecilia Chimbiri, accused of illegally convening a public gathering at the Harare Magistrates’ Court during the level four lockdown, have been denied bail for allegedly committing the offence while facing similar pending cases.

They are remanded on bail for the first three alleged times they broke the law, but now the courts feel that continued breaches of the law while on bail shows contempt for the system.

The two, through their lawyer Mr Jeremiah Bamu, yesterday failed to assure the court that they will not repeat their contempt for the rule of law if released on bail when they applied for bail before Harare provincial magistrate Mrs Vongai Guwuriro.

“It is agreed that the two accused have three other pending matters as mentioned above on CRBs provided. There is no previous conviction attaching to either of them. The court was worried about the non-trial of these cases which generally seem to be open and shut. I then sought an explanation from the State. What came out was unbelievable. The history of the cases shows how convoluted the issues have become,” she said.

Mrs Guwuriro said the State told her that the trials were not opening because of technical glitches orchestrated by Mamombe after she pleaded insanity and declared she was mentally unfit to comprehend court proceedings.

She said Mamombe then sought medical attention from doctors of her own choice and was granted a court order that she be released from custody while being treated.

“Consequently, the State no longer has control of the case. They simply have to wait for the recovery of first accused for her to be able to stand trial. The implication of this sad scenario is that it is up to the accused and not State to decide on whether or not she can stand trial. Meanwhile, she continues to be accused of having committed similar offences and continues to be granted bail for those offences,” she said.

Mrs Guwuriro said the two’s trial will not take place as long as Mamombe continues to say she is mentally unfit to stand trial, considering that the State had been interdicted by the High Court from separating the trials of her and her co-accused.

“As long as the first accused continues playing the mental incapacity game on one hand and committing further crimes on the other and gets freed on bail, it will remain a hurdle for the proper administration of justice. This is a typical case in which the administration of justice in general and the courts in particular are being sold a dummy by the accused,” she said.

Mrs Guwuriro noted that while the two were continuing to commit crimes, they were openly refusing to be prosecuted on technical grounds. “The accused are clearly dribbling the administration of justice but the court must be able to see beyond that veil of deceit,” she said.

Mrs Guwuriro said the four offences which Mamombe and Chimbiri are now facing relate to regulating behaviour of an individual in a public place. Releasing the two will be tantamount to seriously undermining the criminal justice system including the bail system. Mamombe and Chimbiri are expected to be back in court on March 21.