State Rubbishes Chimombe, Mpofu Freedom Push

The State has dealt a blow to jailed business partners Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu after opposing their applications for leave to appeal against their conviction and lengthy prison sentences.

 

Prosecutor Whisper Mabhaudhi told the court the applications were hollow, lacking seriousness and merit, and should be dismissed outright.

 

In written submissions, Mabhaudhi argued the pair had no reasonable prospects of success on appeal against either conviction or sentence, insisting their grounds failed to meet the basic legal threshold.

 

He said Mpofu’s grounds of appeal were vague and defective, noting that an appeal must clearly point out specific errors by the trial court, which the applicants had failed to do.

 

Newsday reported that the State also ridiculed Mpofu’s challenge to his sentence, describing it as absurd given the gravity of the offence.

 

Mabhaudhi scoffed at Mpofu’s claim that a three-month wholly suspended sentence and a US$200 fine would have been appropriate, despite the scale of the fraud.

 

Chimombe and Mpofu are serving effective prison terms of 12 and 17 years respectively after being convicted over a US$87 million presidential goats scheme.

 

In their appeal bid, the two accused the court of fabricating charges and convicting them without sufficient evidence, arguing this gave them strong prospects of overturning the ruling.