HARARE
–
The
Supreme
Court
has
upheld
a
recent
High
Court
ruling
which
ordered
the
return
of
former
Zanu
PF
legislator
and
businessman
Justice
Mayor
Wadyajena’s
Lamborghini
and
over
a
dozen
trucks
and
tractors
seized
from
the
controversial
politician
in
2022
by
the
Zimbabwe
Anti-Corruption
Commission
(ZACC).
The
order
puts
to
an
end,
a
bid
by
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority
(NPA)
and
ZACC
to
cling
on
to
Wadyajena’s
pricey
possessions
arguing
the
property
formed
proceeds
of
money
laundering
and
related
crimes
allegedly
committed
by
the
former
Gokwe-Nembudziya
MP
and
his
alleged
accomplices.
The
High
Court
had
ruled
in
August
this
year
it
was
no
longer
lawful
for
ZACC
to
keep
holding
onto
the
property
when
Wadyajena
had
been
cleared
of
any
wrongdoing.
ZACC
seized
the
vehicles
when
it
opened
investigations
into
alleged
money
laundering
by
the
former
legislator
in
2022.
But
a
three-panel
bench
on
Monday
concurred
with
the
High
Court’s
decision
after
Wadyajena
had
argued
that
ZACC
had
no
basis
to
hold
on
to
his
vehicles.
Wadyajena’s
lawyer
Oliver
Marwa
said
if
ZACC
had
anything
further
to
investigate,
then
the
three
years
in
which
it
had
been
holding
on
to
the
politician’s
property
was
sufficient
time
to
come
out
with
anything
tangible.
“The
Supreme
Court
ruled
on
the
appeal
by
the
NPA,
which
was
contesting
the
High
Court
order
for
NPA
and
ZACC
to
release
the
property
that
was
seized
by
ZACC
and
the
NPA
from
Mayor
Logistics,”
Marwa
told
the
media.
“When
they
brought
the
matter
to
the
Supreme
Court,
they
wanted
the
Supreme
Court
to
rule
that
what
the
High
Court
had
done
was
wrong,
but
the
Supreme
Court
agreed
with
us
that
they
had
no
mandate
in
keeping
that
property
because
the
High
Court
judgment
by
Justice
Kwenda
was
clear
that
they
had
30
days
within
which
to
keep
that
property,
but
they
exceeded
two
years.
“There
has
been
no
end
in
sight
for
the
intended
prosecution
for
our
clients.
Our
clients
have
always
maintained
that
they
were
innocent,
that
those
properties
were
theirs,
they
were
legitimately
acquired.”
Wadyajena
and
his
company,
Mayor
Logistics
Private
Limited
launched
the
appeal
after
ZACC
had
refused
to
return
the
movable
property
when
his
case
collapsed
in
court.
The
flamboyant
politician
and
six
others
who
include
some
COTTCO
bosses
were
arrested
and
arraigned
before
the
magistrates’
court
on
three
charges
of
money
laundering
and
three
counts
of
fraud
in
2022.
They
were
accused
of
fleecing
COTTCO
of
millions
of
US
dollars
through
creating
false
invoices
for
the
supply
of
bale
ties
to
the
state
company.
The
monies
realised,
according
to
prosecutors
at
the
time,
were
laundered
through
various
companies
in
which
Wadyajena
and
his
company
had
interests.
On
6
February
2023,
the
magistrates’
courts
refused
a
further
remand
with
the
state
advised
to
proceed
through
summons.
However,
ZACC
elected
to
keep
the
property
claiming
they
needed
30
days
to
conduct
parallel
investigations
into
the
matter.
Wadyajena
applied
and
won
a
High
Court
order
for
the
return
of
his
property.
A
judgement
was
made
in
his
favour
in
May
this
year
but
ZACC
put
spanners
in
his
wake
through
launching
a
Supreme
Court
appeal
demanding
the
release
of
his
property.
Wadyajena
returned
to
file
an
urgent
High
Court
application
for
leave
to
execute
the
judgement
pending
a
Supreme
Court
determination
on
the
matter.
He
listed
ZACC
and
the
Prosecutor
General
of
Zimbabwe
as
first
and
second
respondents
respectively.
In
his
ruling,
Justice
Chitapi
concurred
with
Wadyajena’s
lawyers
that
the
ex-MP
was
being
prejudiced
of
potential
revenue
through
continued
holding
of
his
trucks.