Dozens confirmed willing to nail Mike “Mbudzi” Chimombe – ZimEye

The State has revealed that at least 13 witnesses have confirmed they can testify in the trial of Mike Chimombe and Moses Mpofu in the $7 million goat scam, Crime and Court Reporter reports.

The witnesses include officials from the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) and government officials.

Mpofu and Chimombe were accused of falsifying documents to win the tender for the supply of goats under the Presidential Goat Programme.

They are represented by Arshiel Mugiya and Tapson Dzvetero.

Investigating officer Henry Chapwanya recorded statements from six witnesses and plans to take statements from at least eight more.

Chapwanya argued that since the process is still ongoing, bail should be denied to the accused to prevent potential interference with witnesses. He said:

Most of the witnesses were known to the defendants because they had interacted with them during the negotiations for the tender at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Prosecutor Anesu Chirenje presented written evidence, a memo circulated by the defendants on social media, which showed that the government allocated about $4 million for the project.

This contradicts the amount released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe which was US$7 million.

The proceedings are scheduled to resume today (July 3) and defence lawyers are expected to cross-examine Chapwanya.

Significantly, Chimombe and Mpofu were charged only after a conflict with Vicknel Chiwayo over the allocation of funds from a controversial $40 million deal to supply election materials to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) ahead of the 2023 general elections.

On February 13, 2023, Mpofu and Chimombe allegedly reached an agreement with South Africa’s Ren-Form CC to participate in the ZEC tender along with Chiwayo, but were subsequently excluded.

They are currently seeking $10 million from Chiwayo to compensate for lost revenue.

Additionally, Chimombe and Mpofu are accused of leaking audio recordings in which Chiwayo claimed that Mnangagwa and other senior government officials were under his influence.

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