Former Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) CEO, Meanwell Gudu, was acquitted of all charges related to criminal abuse of office on Friday, August 23.
Gudu had been arrested and accused of misappropriating over US$2 million. He appeared before Harare magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa, along with co-accused Stuart Shanyika, TIMB’s former head of special services, and Andrew Matibiri, a retired former TIMB CEO.
The trio was arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) on September 6, 2022, and first appeared before the Harare Magistrate Court on September 8, 2022.
The state alleged that in the 2017-2018 farming seasons, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had introduced a tobacco financing facility to support small-scale tobacco farmers with inputs and working capital.
A memorandum of agreement was signed on September 10, 2018, between the RBZ, AFC Commercial Bank, and TIMB.
The RBZ was the provider of the funds for the facility, AFC Commercial Bank was the agent and TIMB was the borrower.
However, the court heard that the three accused persons allegedly entered into private agreements with other tobacco contractors, handpicking them in a corruptly designed deal to support the firms with inputs from the TIMB loan.
As a result, the RBZ was allegedly prejudiced of US$2 million, and nothing was recovered.
The matter was heard at the Magistrate Court on Thursday, nearly two years after the arrests, and the charges were ultimately withdrawn before a plea was entered.
Gudu joined TIMB in 2008 as a technical services executive and was appointed CEO in April 2021, following the retirement of the then-CEO Matibiri.
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