Former Minister to stand trial

A Harare Magistrate’s Court has dismissed former Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo's application for the dismissal of his fraud charges. However, five counts of criminal abuse of office charges were dropped. The Herald reports that the case relates to the alleged allocation of land in Harare during his term in office. Magistrate Stanford Mambanje said there was ‘reasonable suspicion’ that he was guilty. Between 2000 and 2015, Chombo allegedly ordered potential buyers to deposit funds into his Housing Co-operative's Agribank account. He is accused of pledging to allocate them property. His lawyers, Lovemore Madhuku, Tungamirai Muganhiri and Munyaradzi Bwanya, have argued that the co-operative does not exist. Chombo was ordered to stand trial on 30 June.