Former Zimbabwe
Power Company (ZPC) board chairman Stanley Kazhanje has been granted $1 000
bail pending appeal against both conviction and sentence for allegedly
concealing a US$10 000 payment he received from Intratrek Zimbabwe chief
executive Wicknell Chivayo, before the court imposed an effective one-year jail
term.
Kazhanje, who is appealing against both conviction and
sentence, at the High Court applied for bail pending appeal at the same court. Justice
Amy Tsanga granted the application for bail by Kazhanje saying his prospects of
success on appeal were high.
Through his lawyer, Advocate Sylvester Hashiti, Kazhanje
argued that he was optimistic that he will succeed on appeal against the lower
court’s decision, justifying the granting of bail.
His grounds of appeal ranged from challenging the onus
which he said was wrongly placed on him to prove his defence, the correctness
of the charge and the finding that he had not disclosed his personal interest
in the Gwanda solar project transaction.
But the State, which was listed as the respondent,
vehemently opposed Kazhanje’s application.
It argued that the trial court did not misdirect itself as
the evidence was overwhelming that there had been no disclosure.
But in her ruling, Justice Tsanga noted that Kazhanje may
not have disclosed his past relations with Intratrek but it could not have said
on the basis of facts that were argued, he had an interest in the transaction,
being the Gwanda solar project.
“Strictly speaking, there was no evidence placed before the
court a quo that he had a personal interest in the Gwanda solar project,” she
said.
“The prospects of success on conviction are, in my view,
therefore, not manifestly doomed to failure. If there is a possibility of
conviction being set aside, it stands to
reason that so will sentence.”
It is the State’s case that on October 23 2015, Kazhanje
signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract of a 100 megawatt
solar power station project, in which he received US$10 000 from Intratrek
under unclear circumstances.
The trial court also heard that because of Kazhanje’s
actions, ZPC paid over $4 million to Intratrek as advance payment, despite the
company failing to meet the terms of the contract. Herald
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