Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Priscilla Chigumba is expected to appear in court to testify against a former Midlands State University student, Night Tawona Shadaya who is accused of retweeting a derogatory message against her.
The trial, which was supposed to commence on Monday was postponed to November 20 after the
State, indicated that they failed to serve Chigumba.
Initially, Shadaya pleaded guilty to criminal insult when he appeared before Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa. While awaiting sentencing, Noble Chinhanu of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) took over his legal representation and advised the court that he would be changing his plea.
Chinhanu successfully applied for change of plea from guilty to not guilty, arguing that his client “wrongly” and “mistakenly” pleaded guilty to the offence having an incorrect understanding of the essential elements of the charges he is facing.
Chinhanu also argued that Shadaya genuinely believed that the account belonged to Chigumba at the time of retweeting and therefore did not impair her reputation.Daily News