News / National
Mugabe insult case takes new twist
12 Jul 2017 at 13:07hrs | Views
THE case in which an estate manager at Falcon College was dragged to court recently for allegedly insulting President Robert Mugabe following an altercation with a subordinate, has taken a new twist with the former applying for referral to the Constitutional Court (ConCourt).
While the insult allegations reportedly took place in December last year, the case only got to court this April, as the State awaited authority from the Attorney General to prosecute in terms of Section 34 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.
The manager, 47-year-old Murray Ross Osborne - represented by Tim Cherry of Web, Low and Barry legal practitioners - appeared before Esigodini magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa facing charges of undermining the authority or insulting the president.
In May, Osborne filed an application for exception, arguing the charges were unclear and did not disclose an offence.
But Muchemwa dismissed the application, noting that the charges were straightforward.
Not happy with the decision, Osborne – out on $100 bail – went on to apply for referral to the ConCourt.
The ruling on his application has been set for July 20.
According to State papers, at around 8am on December 14 last year while at Falcon College grounds, the complainant, Bigboy Moyo, employed as a general hand, was tasked by the accused to dig out a sewage pipe.
The court heard that Moyo, however, failed to locate the pipe and this did not go down well with the Osborne, who then allegedly said: "You are stupid like President Gabriel Mugabe".
It is alleged that the accused went on to tell Moyo that he was free to report him wherever he wanted.
An annoyed Moyo proceeded to file a police report at Esigodini Police Station where the case was referred to Gwanda law and order section, leading Osborne's arrest.
While the insult allegations reportedly took place in December last year, the case only got to court this April, as the State awaited authority from the Attorney General to prosecute in terms of Section 34 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.
The manager, 47-year-old Murray Ross Osborne - represented by Tim Cherry of Web, Low and Barry legal practitioners - appeared before Esigodini magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa facing charges of undermining the authority or insulting the president.
In May, Osborne filed an application for exception, arguing the charges were unclear and did not disclose an offence.
But Muchemwa dismissed the application, noting that the charges were straightforward.
The ruling on his application has been set for July 20.
According to State papers, at around 8am on December 14 last year while at Falcon College grounds, the complainant, Bigboy Moyo, employed as a general hand, was tasked by the accused to dig out a sewage pipe.
The court heard that Moyo, however, failed to locate the pipe and this did not go down well with the Osborne, who then allegedly said: "You are stupid like President Gabriel Mugabe".
It is alleged that the accused went on to tell Moyo that he was free to report him wherever he wanted.
An annoyed Moyo proceeded to file a police report at Esigodini Police Station where the case was referred to Gwanda law and order section, leading Osborne's arrest.
Source - dailynews
