Tough bail terms for Mzembi

HIGH Court judge Justice Benjamin Chikowero has imposed stringent bail conditions on former minister of Tourism Walter Mzembi, including a restriction barring him from traveling beyond a 30-kilometre radius of the court.

Mzembi, who is accused of criminal abuse of office involving the loaning of public viewing area screens to private entities, has his judgment set for May 14.

Some of the bail conditions imposed on him when he was granted bail on Monday include depositing US$1 000, residing at his Wilmington, Harare, address until the matter is finalised, and surrendering his passport.

When he appeared in court for the defense case in March, Mzembi defended the “loaning” of public viewing area screens, saying the move was above board and formed part of efforts to rebrand Zimbabwe following the 2008 political violence.

He told the court that after the 2008 violence, he was appointed minister of Tourism at a time when the ministry had only five employees. He said he introduced new policies that led to a boom in the tourism sector.

Mzembi argued that when he assumed office, Zimbabwe’s image had been severely damaged by political violence, with tourism largely centred on wildlife.

He said there was a need to diversify and promote other forms of tourism, including religious tourism.

The court heard that the ministry conducted benchmark visits to Mecca, Jerusalem, the Vatican, and Prophet TB Joshua’s churches to study how religious tourism contributed to economic growth, leading to the idea of promoting local prophets with significant followings.

“When I joined the ministry, it had only five employees: the director of finance and his subordinate. I was trusted because the ministry had collapsed because of 2008 toxic politics, which resulted in a global political agreement and also the land reform programme of 2000, and it was sanitised through legislation. A combination of these two resulted in a drastic fall in tourist arrivals. About 250 000 arrivals per annum and US$296 million in revenue were the statistics I was handed when I assumed office, along with a very damaged sectoral brand.

“My responsibility was to start a new ministry and build it. When I left in 2017 to move to Foreign Affairs, I had steered the sector to 1.5 million arrivals and US$1 billion in revenue. My job entailed a recovery strategy, a new national tourism policy, a new strategy, and the refining of the existing Tourism Act,” Mzembi told the court.

He further testified that soon after taking office, he toured 14 European countries alongside the late Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to reassure the international community that the Government of National Unity was delivering positive results and that Zimbabwe was open for tourism.

Mzembi said they were tasked with raising US$800 million from the trip to help fund civil servants’ salaries, managing to secure US$200 million.

He said this prompted a policy shift toward religious tourism, focusing on Prophetic Healing and Deliverance (PHD), the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), and the United Family International Church (UFIC).

According to Mzembi, the three churches were selected based on the large numbers of visitors flocking to their shrines, with the aim of taxing them and enhancing their visibility.

The court heard that when the screens were handed over to the churches, then-Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa presided over the ceremony at ZCC, accompanied by cabinet ministers, including Sydney Sekeramayi.

Then minister of Local Government, Ignatius Chombo, officiated at the PHD handover.

Mzembi said of the 46 screens procured for the co-hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, 10 were allocated to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, provincial governors received one each, while the remainder were stored at Manyame Airbase.

Cross-examining Mzembi, the State argued that despite senior government officials presiding over the handover ceremonies, there had been no concurrence from the Treasury for the disposal of public property.

In response, Mzembi told the court that he had been granted authority by the late President Robert Mugabe, which was endorsed by Tsvangirai.

He also said that available remedies to account for the property were not utilised, alleging that in 2018 the State stormed the ministry of Tourism offices and intimidated employees.