CIO agent acquitted

A central intelligence official attached at parliament, Walter Ngorima, who was facing two charges of abuse of office and extortion has been acquitted by a Harare regional magistrate at the close of the state case.

Regional Magistrate Mrs Fadzai Mtombeni granted the defence's application for discharge and reprimanded the prosecution for not doing thorough investigations prior to approaching the courts.

In her ruling, Mrs Mtombeni outlined that the state failed to prove that the accused was a public official who abused his office to extort money from a Kenyan businessman Benjamin Masyuku whom he allegedly threatened with deportation.

On the second count of extortion, Mrs Mtombeni ruled that the state's key witness Mr Timothy Waweru was unreliable as he failed to justify why the accused would demand a bribe or cause the deportation of Mr Masyuku when the businessman had valid papers to stay in the country.