A resident of Hurungwe in Mashonaland West province, Vincent Chigwedere (47) was recently acquitted on charges of undermining the authority of or insulting President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Chigwedere appeared before Kariba Magistrate Tendai Banda on charges of undermining the authority of or insulting President Mnangagwa as defined in Section 33(2)(b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
According to the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), prosecutors alleged that Chigwedere impaired the image of President Mnangagwa when he unlawfully and intentionally made an obscene and indecent statement concerning the President.
He is alleged to have made the remarks during a verbal altercation over a land ownership dispute.
Chigwedere was, however, discharged at the close of the prosecution case by Magistrate Banda, who ruled that prosecutors had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
He was represented by Unite Saizi of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.