The Supreme Court has ruled that jailed businessmen Moses Mpofu and Mike Chimombe may appeal their fraud convictions only on questions of law, shutting the door on attempts to challenge the High Court's factual findings in the multi-million-dollar Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme scandal.
The ruling follows applications by the pair after the High Court refused them leave to appeal against their convictions and lengthy prison sentences.
Mpofu's lawyer, Ashiel Mugiya, confirmed the outcome on Tuesday.
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"They have been allowed to appeal to the Supreme Court on matters of law only and not contest the factual findings of the High Court.
"So we will proceed to file their appeal to the Supreme Court on matters of law," Mugiya said.
In a composite judgment delivered by Justice George Chiweshe, the Supreme Court held that several grounds raised by the two applicants involved questions of law, which, under Section 44(2)(a) of the High Court Act, may be appealed without leave.
However, the court found that their proposed appeals against the High Court's factual findings and sentence lacked prospects of success and declined to grant leave on those issues.
"The applicant does not require leave to appeal. For that reason, the applicant is at liberty to appeal on this ground without leave," Chiweshe ruled in relation to one of Chimombe's legal grounds.
The judge also found that some of Mpofu's proposed grounds raised pure questions of law, meaning he could pursue them before the Supreme Court without first obtaining leave.
Mpofu is serving an effective 15-year prison sentence after being sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment, with seven years suspended on conditions that included restitution of US$2,060,250.60.
Chimombe is serving an effective 12-year prison term after receiving a 17-year sentence, with five years suspended on condition that he pays restitution of US$964,064.64 and does not commit another offence involving dishonesty.
The pair were convicted by the High Court over the controversial Presidential Goat Pass-on Scheme, a government programme launched in 2021 to alleviate poverty through the distribution of improved goat breeds across Zimbabwe's 10 provinces.
According to court findings, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development awarded a contract worth US$8.75 million to Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming (Pvt) Ltd after being misled into believing the company was properly registered and held valid ZIMRA tax clearance and NSSA compliance certificates.
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The State successfully argued that the certificates submitted belonged to other entities and that Blackdeck Livestock and Poultry Farming was not a registered company.
The ministry advanced 30 percent of the contract value before the company allegedly failed to deliver the agreed number of goats.
Evidence accepted by the High Court showed that only 4,208 goats worth US$331,445.25 were supplied, leaving the government with an actual prejudice of about US$7.38 million.
During their trial, Mpofu and Chimombe denied committing fraud, arguing that the dispute was contractual rather than criminal and insisting the company had the capacity to fulfil the tender. They also challenged the legality of their arrest and prosecution and claimed the proceedings were politically motivated.
Justice Chiweshe, however, found no reasonable prospects of success in their proposed challenges to the factual findings, including arguments that they had not participated in the alleged fraud or that the sentence was excessive.
The businessmen will now pursue an appeal before the Supreme Court limited to legal questions identified in the judgment.
