BULAWAYO: EX-Zimbabwe VP Mr Phelekezela Mphoko has appeared before Bulawayo provincial magistrate, Mr Enias Magate, facing charges of criminal abuse of office.
Mphoko is said to have unlawfully instructed some junior police officers to release from cells, former Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) acting chief executive, Moses Juma.
However, Mphoko argues that the release was not unlawful since the prolonged detention was against the court order which set Juma free.
He was remanded out of custody to September 4 on $1 000 bail and ordered to: report once a week at the CID Commercial Crimes Divisions in Bulawayo; surrender his passport; to reside at his given address, and not to interfer with State witnesses.
