Zvikomborero Parafini
FOUR years after being arraigned to court on 32 counts of bribery, former ZIFA president Felton Kamambo is smiling once again after he was found not guilty on Friday.
He was acquitted after a full trial by magistrate Bianca Makwande.
Magistrate Makwande, in analysing the evidence, stated that the State failed to prove the essential elements of bribery.
The essential elements are that a person must give an agent a gift or consideration, the gift must be an inducement or reward for doing or failing to do any act in relation to the principal’s affairs and the person must do this knowing that this inducement or reward is not due to the agent in terms of his agreement with the principal.
Throughout the trial Kamambo, through his lawyer Admire Rubaya, argued that the State failed to prove the essential element of “agent”.
He argued that although the evidence showed that the delegates were voters, there was no evidence to prove that they were agents,
Magistrate Makwande agreed with this argument.
“The State failed in the State Case to show whose agents the voters were for. They did not lead evidence from any of the principals to bring out the fact that the voters were not only agents but they also had a specific mandate on how they were to vote.
“Thus, at the end of the trial, the essential element regarding the issue of agent had not been canvassed,” she said.
Added the magistrate:
“My view in this case is that at the end of the trial this court was left with circumstantial evidence before it.
“It was, indeed, established that money was deposited into some of the voter’s accounts. There was no direct evidence to show that the money was indeed a bribe.
“The court was being called upon by the State to infer that it was bribe money given the circumstances in which it was paid.
“The pertinent circumstances being that it was paid to 25 of the expected 62 voters, it was paid during the election period, it was paid by a candidate who had a vested interest in the elections and that it was paid haphazardly without any proper schedule as to the breakdown of the traveling or subsistence costs.”
Magistrate Makwande said she was satisfied by Kamambo’s explanation which was supported by documentary evidence.
Kamambo explained that the money was paid to those who attended his campaign meetings and not to every voter.
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