Ex-Harare mayor in court

FORMER Harare mayor, Herbert Gomba's lawyers yesterday said his arrest on perjury charges was politically-motivated to deny him time to campaign for the March 26 by-elections.

Gomba, who was being represented by Harrison Nkomo and Garikai Mhishi, appeared before Harare magistrate Stanford Mambanje.

He was remanded in custody to today for a bail hearing.

The State, represented by Lancelot Mutsokoti opposed bail, saying Gomba was a flight risk as he faced other charges, falsified his address and had several people registered under his residence.

But Nkomo said Gomba was a suitable candidate for bail since he had not violated previous bail conditions.

Nkomo also argued that denying Gomba bail was political persecution to deny him an opportunity to canvass for votes ahead of the polls.

The State alleges that on an unknown date in 2017, Gomba submitted a false address during a voter registration exercise.

Twenty-two persons used the same address, with nine of them alleged to be sharing the Gomba surname. The State alleges that this was intended to manipulate the 2018 council election results in Gomba's favour.