HARARE – The legal team representing Harare mayor Jacob Mafume has hit out at what they say is a deliberate abuse of the detention limits of a suspect after he was not taken to court on Tuesday.
Mafume was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) outside the Harare Magistrate’s Court on Monday after appearing for a routine remand hearing on charges of land corruption.
His lawyer Tonderai Bhatasara said police had vindictively decided they would not take him to court on Tuesday.
“My client is not happy at all. The police are delaying and abusing the 48-hour detention rule before a suspect is taken to court,” Bhatasara said.
Police have not commented on Mafume’s arrest but government spokesman Ndavaningi Mangwana said the charges related to an alleged attempt to bribe a witness.
Mafume was arrested earlier this month accused of leaning on council employees to allocate housing stands in Westlea to his sister Rotina Mafume and his law firm’s secretary Rutendo Muvuti without following procedure. The incident allegedly happened in March, when Mafume was only a councillor.
In a statement on Tuesday, his party the MDC Alliance said: “It is alleged he interfered with a witness. He denies this. After his remand hearing, he went to Strathaven Shopping Centre where he was greeted by a woman he knows. He greeted her back then plainclothes police arrested him.”
