By Courts Correspondent
Harare – Former Foreign Affairs Minister Walter Mzembi was on Tuesday remanded in custody after a Harare magistrate revoked his bail, with his corruption trial scheduled to resume on July 1.
Mzembi, 61, has been facing charges of criminal abuse of office and theft of trust property related to the alleged improper disposal of televisions worth US$2 million during his tenure as Tourism Minister.
The televisions, originally procured for 2010 FIFA World Cup fan parks, were reportedly donated to Emmanuel Makandiwa’s mega church in Chitungwiza.
According to Mzembi’s legal team, led by Killian Mandiki, the former minister left Zimbabwe in 2018 to seek medical treatment in South Africa and only recently returned following an improvement in his health.
Mzembi was reportedly undergoing cancer treatment.
At Tuesday’s hearing before Magistrate Donald Ndirowei, Mandiki argued for bail citing Mzembi’s medical condition and his decision to return voluntarily.
However, Magistrate Ndirowei was unconvinced, stating: “There is a gap as to what transpired in his medical report.
“The attached medical report would have worked if he had availed himself in 2020, not in 2025. It has not been proven that for all these years he was bedridden such that he could not travel to Zimbabwe to cancel his warrants of arrest.”
The magistrate went on to confirm three outstanding warrants of arrest issued against Mzembi for failure to attend trial, ruling: “His warrants of arrest are hereby confirmed, bail is revoked. The accused is hereby committed to prison pending trial.”
The court also noted that Mzembi acted as campaign manager for presidential candidate Saviour Kasukuwere, who launched his campaign from exile in South Africa in 2023 before being barred from contesting by the courts.
Mzembi’s arrest came after the 2017 military coup that led to the ousting of former President Robert Mugabe.
The corruption trial, which had stalled due to Mzembi’s absence, is set to continue when he returns from custody on July 1.
