Former Harare mayor sets remand deadline

Former Harare mayor Herbert Gomba, who has been granted $20 000 bail on fresh criminal abuse of office charges, has notified the state that he will apply for a refusal of further remand if investigations are not completed speedily. Gomba, who is represented by Garikayi Mhishi, made the notification after the investigating officer handling the matter made an undertaking in court to complete the investigations within two weeks. New Zimbabwe reports that Gomba was not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Stanford Mambanje, who remanded him to 26 May. Gomba is accused of using his position as mayor to offer a plot of land to a company.