There was drama at the Harare Magistrates Court when police detectives arrested a key witness in the trial of ZIFA president Felton Kamambo.
Kamambo is accused of bribing councilors to enable his ascension to the top post.
The arrest followed after the presiding Harare regional magistrate Bianca Makwande had declared the witness Robert Matoka a hostile witness following an application by prosecutor Micheal Reza.
In the application, Reza told the court that Matoka had departed materially from his two statements and therefore, should be declared a hostile witness.
Before leading evidence from Matoka yesterday, Reza had told the court that if he testifies the truth he would be absolved from any form of prosecution but if he lies under oath that cover would be removed and he would be arrested.
Soon after magistrate Makwande’s ruling, Reza told the court that Matoka had been declared a hostile witness and could now be arrested because the cover of not being prosecuted had fallen away.
The Herald reports that a visibly infuriated Robert Matoka initially resisted arrest and shouted at the detectives asking why they wanted to summon him to the police station.
Kamambo is being accused of bribing councilors to win the votes in the 2018 elections which propelled him to the Zifa presidency, dethroning Philip Chiyangwa.
Kamambo got 35 votes against 24 from Chiyangwa who decided against taking the voting into the second round.
In other news, iHarare had reported that a former police officer who was stationed at Chiredzi Central Police Station was last week slapped with a 33-year jail term by Chiredzi Regional Magistrate Judith Zuyu after being found guilty on three counts of armed robbery.-iharare
