Mubaiwa gets bail for assault
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Harare(New Ziana)- The High Court on Friday granted Marry Mubaiwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga’s estranged wife, $1 500 bail coupled with stringent conditions, in the case in which she is being accused of assaulting her husband’s maid.
She was arrested and thrown in remand prison last weekend after allegedly assaulting Delight Munyoro, the maid, in an altercation over custody of the couple’s minor children.
Mubaiwa denies the charge, but was denied bail by the Magistrates Court in her first court appearance because “she had the propensity to commit similar offences.”
But in her bail ruling on Friday, High Court Judge Justice Erica Ndewere said the state had failed to prove that Mubaiwa had the propensity to commit crimes of a violent nature.
In pushing for denial of bail, the state cited another court case pending in which Mubaiwa is being accused of allegedly attempting to kill her husband.
This, prosecutors argued, proved that she was of a violent disposition.
But Justice Ndewere said Mubaiwa had not yet been convicted in the attempted murder case, and therefore this could not be used as proof of her violent tendencies.
“She is denying the charges of attempted murder and assault, so she is innocent until proven guilty. Offences denied cannot be cited as evidence of propensity to commit similar offences,” she ruled.
“The court wants to point out that the conduct which she admits is frowned upon. But it is not a reason to deny her bail. The appeal should be allowed and the appellant is admitted to bail. $1 500 will bring justice on this case,” she said.
Mubaiwa was ordered to reside at her mother’s Glen Lorne house until the matter is concluded, not to interfere with witnesses such as Munyoro and to report once every fortnight on Fridays at Borrowdale police station.
The assault case is the latest in a litany of charges Mubaiwa is facing, including the alleged attempted murder of her husband, money laundering and fraud.
She was also granted bail in these cases.
New Ziana
