Ngarivhume appeal hearing postponed

The High Court has postponed the appeal hearing of opposition activist Jacob Ngarivhume, who is currently serving a prison sentence for incitement of violence. This delay is a result of the State's failure to submit its legal arguments on time, attributed to issues with the recently implemented e-system at the High Court. The rescheduled date for the hearing is now November 14.

Ngarivhume's legal counsel, Lovemore Madhuku, also announced their intention to request the recusal of Judge Benjamin Chikowero. This request is based on the judge's prior rejection of Ngarivhume's application for bail pending the appeal. Madhuku explained, "We are going to be seeking that he (Chikowero) should be excused from the matter. The reason is that he is the judge who presided over the application for bail pending appeal by Ngarivhume. He dismissed the application. When he dismissed that application, he made an opinion that there were no reasonable prospects of success, so obviously we would need another judge because he already has something to show that the appeal will not be successful," Madhuku stated after the postponement.

Ngarivhume had been convicted and sentenced to prison on charges of inciting public violence due to his call for nationwide protests on July 31, 2020. His three-year sentence took effect, with part of it conditionally suspended. The lower court considered him a first-time offender and determined that a fine or suspended sentence would not effectively deter potential future offenders, insisting that the sentence should have a significant impact.