City of Harare directors cleared of graft charges

Two Harare City Council directors, Cainos Chingombe and Tendai Kwenda, have been found with no case to answer on criminal abuse of office charges.

This is when their case was heard before a Harare magistrate on Thursday.

The two where being accused of buying themselves top-of-the-range cars with funds meant for the provision of water, sanitation, education and recreational services and bought.

Chingombe and Kwenda were cleared of the criminal abuse of office as public officers and theft of trust property charges by Harare regional magistrate Vongai Guwiriro, according to The Herald.

The allegations:

Chingombe was accused of transferring US$130 000 while Kwenda was accused of transferring US$70 000 from the council’s Traditional Beer Levy Account into their respective bank accounts and buying top-of-the-range cars.

The magistrate acquitted the two council directors after noting that the State failed to provide evidence that the duo committed the alleged offences.

The court also ruled that the State failed to prove that the Traditional Beer Levy Account existed after the court was told of the existence of a general account only.

Kwenda was the finance director while Chingombe was the human resource capital director at the local government authority during the time they were accused of committing the offence.