A Harare business couple hauled before the courts on fraud allegations involving former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono has been acquitted after the High Court threw out the charges, blasting the lower court for "inventing" offences that prosecutors had never brought.
Clark Clever Makoni and his wife, Beverly Aisha Ndonda Makoni, walked free after Justice Neville Wamambo Dembure delivered a blistering judgment overturning Regional Magistrate Stanford Mambanje's refusal to grant them a discharge. The couple had insisted from the onset that the state's case -- anchored on claims they defrauded Gono of US$100,000 -- was "void of evidence" and based on defective charges.
Their lawyer, Admire Rubaya, argued that the magistrate had attempted to "patch up" the state's case mid-trial by introducing new particulars of fraud not contained in the original charge sheet -- conduct he said effectively turned the bench into an extension of the prosecution.
"The court cannot, by any stretch of its powers, seek to panel beat the charge for purposes of placing the accused persons onto their defence," Rubaya submitted. "It must avoid the temptation of doing the state's bidding. It laid its bed; it must lie on it - and never rise from it."
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Justice Dembure agreed, saying the magistrate had overstepped his powers by "reinventing" the allegations instead of assessing the case presented by the prosecution. He noted that ordinarily, the High Court would not interrupt ongoing lower court proceedings, but the "dangerous path" taken in this instance demanded intervention.
Gono had engaged the Makonis in 2017 to manage 15 properties in Chivhu, later extending the mandate to include Mutare assets under Valley Lodge (Pvt) Ltd. Prosecutors claimed the couple falsified documents to take control of Valley Lodge, altering directorship records and withdrawing funds.
But the defence dismantled the state's claims, arguing that all key witnesses conceded that Valley Lodge's directorship had remained unchanged since 2009 -- directly contradicting the allegations.
"There was a clear concession by all critical witnesses that the directors of Valley Lodge have remained the same from 2009 to today," the defence submitted, arguing that the admission alone "exonerated the accused."
The prosecution also failed to present evidence that the Makonis unlawfully withdrew US$70,000 from the lodge's accounts, with Rubaya accusing the state of resorting to theatrics to prop up a "hopeless case."
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"The state is acting like a soccer player who dives at the centre circle and then clamours for a penalty," he said.
