Jabulani Sibanda remanded to next year

Former war veterans' leader Jabulani Sibanda, who is accused of criminally insulting President Robert Mugabe, was yesterday remanded to February 29 next year pending the hearing of his constitutional application at the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).

Sibanda is being accused of having made utterances to the effect that "leadership is not sexually transmitted" at the height of the Zanu-PF succession battle that saw former Vice-President Joice Mujuru being expelled from the party last December.

The long remand, according to prosecutor Sebastian Mutizirwa, is to allow the ConCourt to dispose of Sibanda's application in which he argues the charges were meant to stifle his freedom of speech.