'Mutasa used political influence in bribery case'

FORMER State Security minister Didymus Mutasa has been accused of using his political influence when he was still in government to cause the arrest and ultimate incarceration of Chegutu district administrator, Makanzwei Jecheche, on a bribery charge.

This emerged last week when Jecheche was acquitted by two High Court judges, who concurred during his appeal hearing that the handling of the matter was politically influenced.

Jecheche, who had been slapped with an 18-month jail term for receiving a bribe from a Chegutu farmer, Honest Mushangwe, to facilitate processing of an A2 offer letter, was acquitted after the judges raised a red flag over Mutasa's involvement.

The court heard that after paying the "bribe money" to Jecheche, Mushangwe drove to Harare, where he reported the matter to Mutasa.

The judges also slammed the manner in which the trap was conducted by police, adding at times the law enforcement agents, in a bid to ensure success of the trap, "would go to any extent to ensure this at the expense of the truth".