Harare provincial magistrate Mrs Vongai Guwuriro allowed
Mafume to be attended to by his doctor in custody although his lawyer Mr Tendai
Biti had applied to have him released instead.
On Thursday, Mr Biti told court that Mafume had received
treatment at Harare Remand Prison Clinic, but his condition has continued
deteriorate. Mr Biti argued that Harare Central Remand Prison was overcrowded,
and there was no adherence to Covid-19 regulations such as social distancing,
use of sanitisers and wearing of masks.
He asked the court to conduct an inspection in loco to have
an appreciation of the conditions.
“The accused is not well and displaying symptoms related to
coronavirus which are fever, weakness in his joints and headache. He has been
attended to at the clinic at Harare Remand (but) there are no drugs and decent
medication. It is in the best interest that accused be subjected to, not only
coronavirus, but other medical checks by a practitioner of his choice, Dr Francis
Lovemore.
“He is in D Class, which is an open cell where there are 64
inmates in that cell. There is no social distancing, no masks, no sanitisers,
no gloves and he was sleeping on the floor on extremely crowded conditions,” he
said.
Mr Charles Muchemwa for the State did not object to Mafume
being medically examined, saying the health of an individual was of paramount
importance.
Mafume is facing two sets of charges. The first, for which
he has been admitted to bail, concern the alleged allocation of council stands
in Westlea to his sister and a secretary at his law firm, although neither was
on the waiting list, and the second relates to allegations that he in defiance
of his bail conditions attempted to get a testify in his favour.
Mafume is expected to be back in court on January 12 when
the State is expected to apply to revoke his bail on the land allocation
charges. Herald
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