Mau Mau, who is
also a prominent boxing promoter, was facing criminal charges which were
instigated by the Upper Manyame Sub-Catchment Council.
The charges
related to the termination of contract golden handshake which was paid to
Muchineri.
He authorised
the payment of US$84 000 and ZWL155 million to the outgoing CEO.
The gratuity
contract for Muneri stipulated that 70 percent of the payment would be in
United States dollars and 30 percent in local currency.
However, the
Council argued the process was not done procedurally as there was no proper
quorum of board members for such a decision to be passed.
Further
allegations were that Mau Mau failed to notify the Ministry of Agriculture,
Water, Fisheries and Rural Authority and the Ministry of Finance.
The State was
claiming the board members, who attended the AGM, did not make up a quorum as
needed under the Corporate Governance Act to ratify a resolution.
In his ruling,
magistrate Taurai Manuwere ruled that there was no evidence to prove the
essential element of the offence.
“There is no
evidence on which a reasonable court acting carefully might properly convict
and the evidence adduced on behalf of the State is so manifestingly unreliable
that no reasonable court could safely act on it,” ruled Manuwere.
“Clearly,
therefore, from the foregoing, the application for discharge at the close of
the case for prosecution is hereby granted.
“Applicant is
here discharged at close of the case for prosecution in terms of Section (198
(3) of the code. Accordingly, I find him NOT GUILTY.”
It was proven
through minutes produced in court that the board had, in fact, met for an
extraordinary full Council meeting to deliberate on the matter and minutes were
produced in court.
Thereafter, the
resolutions of the board were ratified by the AGM of the stakeholders.
The magistrate
ruled that Mau Mau had notified the relevant Ministries in accordance with the
law.
It is alleged
that in October 2023, when Muchineri was still with the Council, he wrote a
letter seeking a mutual contract termination agreement.
The letter was
presented to the board by Mau Mau and on November 29, in the same year, an
extraordinary full board meeting resolved to pay Mr Manuwere the requested
gratuity.
On the same
day, Mau Mau wrote to the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and
Rural Development and the Minister of Finance notifying them of the terminal
benefits that had been agreed by the board.
On December 14,
Mau Mau advised the Council’s AGM of the developments. H Metro
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