A Harare magistrate on Wednesday dismissed the bail application of the former Director of State Residences Douglas Tapfuma who is facing charges of criminal abuse of office after he allegedly imported a fleet of vehicles without paying duty.
Magistrate Hosea Muyaya dismissed the application of bail based on the gravity and nature of the offence that the accused persons is facing.
“The accused person is facing a serious offence of corruption and if the accused is released chances of him interfering with state witness are very high as he is a prominent figure in the society and hence the application of bail is refused”, said Mujaya.
Tapfuma appeared before Magistrate Hosea Mujaya who postponed the matter to August 15.
Tapfuma was late Tuesday arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) on corruption allegations.
The source added that “Tapfuma is facing allegations of using letters from the President’s Office to facilitate the importation of vehicles for friends and relatives duty-free.”
Tapfuma was early last year elevated to director State residencies following the sacking of Innocent Tizora, Mugabe’s last director in charge of presidential properties.
But Tapfuma was to be relegated to a less influential post of principal director, monitoring and evaluation in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), after allegations of abuse of office exploded into the public domain including claims he had used his position to buy cars for friends circumventing tax authorities.
Mnangagwa has declared a zero tolerance to corruption and recently declared the Zacc board chaired by Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo “has teeth and will bite.”