Flamboyant businessman and former Gokwe Nembudziya legislator, Justice Mayor Wadyejena has been cleared of fraud charges after the Supreme Court ruled in his favor.
The court’s decision comes as a significant relief for Wadyajena, who had been embroiled in a lengthy legal battle.
Wadyejena was being Jointly charged together with his company Mayor Logistics on allegations of fraud and money laundering with his case attracting the attention of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission who later seized and forfeited his twenty five haulage trucks and two luxurious cars, Lamborghini Urus and BMW X6M.
However in May this year the former legislator was given back his property after the Highcourt found no reason to keep them but the matter spilled to the Supreme Court with the National Prosecuting Authority arguing that it was not fit for Wadyejena to get his property back.
This Monday the Supreme Court has ruled that the appeal by the National Prosecuting Authority is void of any merit.
“Our clients always maintained that they are innocent and it has been always clear that there was no case against them. They always made clear that the property belongs to them and they legally acquired them. We approached the courts on several times for the state to give us trial date but there was nothing. So it means our clients are off the hook,” he said.
Wadyajena has been facing trumped up charges as his enemies wanted to end his political career.
”If ZACC has anything, surely in 3 years they would have found something that those properties were theirs they were legitimately acquired,” he said.
At some point the Zimbabwe Anti-corruption Commission (ZACC) resisted handing back the legislator’s luxury vehicles citing flimsy conditions which were quashed by the High court.
The flamboyant businessman has been away from the limelight despite fighting endless court battles which he finally won at the Supreme Court this Monday.
According to Oliver Marwa following the ruling said , “The outcome was that the Supreme Court ruled that the appeal by the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe, which was contesting the High Court order for NPA and ZACC to release the property that was seized by ZACC and the NPAZ from Mayor Logistics and Mayor Wadyajena,”
“When they brought the matter to the Supreme Court, they wanted the Supreme Court to rule that what the High Court had done was wrong but the Supreme Court agreed with us that they had no mandate in keeping that property because the High Court Judgment by Justice Brenda was clear that they had 30 days within which to keep that property, but they exceeded two years.
They had been talking about criminal investigations in the matter that they have to visit America to verify how these properties were acquired, but they have not done anything.
“This led the Magistrate’s Court to refuse further remanding Mayor Wadyajena and Mayor Logistics on the charge of fraud and money laundering way back last year.
There has been no traction with the ZACC investigation, there has been no end in sight for the intended prosecution for our clients so our clients have always maintained that they were innocent, that those properties were theirs and they were legitimately acquired.”
“So, in the end Justice has won. We have been vindicated by the Apex Court this morning,” he said.
“It has always been clear from our client’s arrest that there is nothing that they could hold on to our clients in terms of the criminal offence that they were talking about.
“If they have got something, let them come forward, but there has been nothing. There has been nothing we have even gone to court to compel them to give us a way forward, to give us a trial date but it has not been forthcoming.”
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