Mwonzora denies theft of trust property charge

The trial of MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora over alleged theft of trust property opened in Harare yesterday with the former Nyanga North MP denying the charge.

The trial opened after the Constitutional Court threw out his application for permanent stay of proceedings on the basis that his constitutional rights to a fair trial within a reasonable time had been infringed given that he was alleged to have committed the offence in 2006.

In his defence outline Mwonzora, who is being represented by Eric Matienga and Trust Maanda, said the allegations against him were "ill-conceived and unfounded".

The complainant in the matter, Everson Dandadzi, gave evidence of how he was prejudiced by the accused.

Dandadzi told the court of how he entered into an agreement of sale with one Stephen Matongo to whom he sold his residential stand for $4 billion Zimbabwean dollars.

He told the court that, initially, Mwonzora was not involved in the deal but he (Dandadzi) later on sought the services of the MDC-T lawyer after Matongo, who had made an initial payment of Z$2 billion delayed paying the balance.

Dandadzi told the court that he instructed Mwonzora to cancel the residential stand agreement of sale and gave him money to refund Matongo.

Dandadzi alleged that after the cancellation of the agreement of sale, Mwonzora did not remit the money to Matongo’s lawyers, Manase and Manase and converted it to his personal use between May and December in 2006, thereby prejudicing him.

Mwonzora, who is being represented by Advocate Eric Matinenga, however denies the charges.

In September last year, Mwonzora, filed an application for dropping of the charges which was dismissed by the Constitutional Court.

His lawyer then, Trust Maanda, had argued that his client's right to a fair trial within a reasonable period time had been violated and that he could no longer access bank records showing the transactions from 2006.