The Plumtree magistrates’ court has granted Chief Mphini and two village heads—who are accused of illegally allocating residential and agricultural land to land seekers—leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court to challenge the constitutionality of their prosecution.
Chief Mphini, born Jabulani Ndiweni, was arrested alongside village heads Howard Nkomo and Madoja Mafa.
They face charges under Section 175 of Statutory Instrument 61 of 2013, which they dispute as being contrary to their role as traditional leaders as enshrined in Section 282 of the constitution.
The matter also touches on the Communal Land Act, enacted in 1982, and the Rural District Council Act of 1987.
Section 282 of the constitution vests traditional leaders with the authority to administer communal land, manage natural resources, and resolve disputes, subject to parliamentary law.
It empowers chiefs, headmen, and village heads to oversee land allocation in accordance with customary law and the Traditional Leaders Act.
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The trio is accused of illegally allocating residential and agricultural land to land seekers without the authority of the Bulilima Rural District Council (RDC), with corruption cited as an element of the charges.
They appeared before Plumtree Magistrate Busani Sibanda and denied the charge.
Their lawyer, Prince Butshe Dube of Butshe and Associates, filed an application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court regarding the constitutionality of the matter.
He submitted that the lower court cannot decide on the alignment of the law with the constitution.
"It is my humble submission that the two accused persons are improperly before this court because the Acts which they are alleged to have violated are not consistent with Section 282 of the constitution," Dube said.
He further argued that, in terms of Section 175 of the constitution read together with Statutory Instrument 61 of 2016, traditional leaders derive their authority directly from the constitution and should not be treated merely as administrative extensions of rural district councils.
Dube said the prosecution soughtto proceed as if that constitutional role does not exist or is entirely subordinate to the RDC, thereby criminalising the independent exercise of customary authority.
Sibanda granted the application, stating that the parties were at liberty to approach a superior court for constitutional interpretation.
He noted that the parties were free to approach the appropriate court to determine the constitutional issues raised, should they deem it necessary, and granted them permission to do so.
Prosecutor Fezile Mpofu told the court that the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) arrested Chief Mphini and the village heads of Bulilima district in Matabeleland South on charges of criminal abuse of duty as public officers.
The alleged offences occurred between 2020 and 2025.
Chief Mphini is said to have unprocedurally allocated stands ranging from 750 square metres to 7,500 square metres to at least 29 beneficiaries.
Allegations were that land seekers were charged between US2,500 per stand.
However, of the 29 beneficiaries interviewed, only two admitted to making payments, and no receipts or proof of payments were produced.
It is alleged that Chief Mphini allocated five additional stands and, in connivance with his co-accused, allocated 12 stands without council authority.
Zacc said seven original certificates of household occupancy were recovered from beneficiaries, while three copies were obtained from individuals who claimed to have misplaced the originals.
Further findings indicated duplications in the allocation records, with some spouses listed separately as beneficiaries for a single stand, inflating the number of allocations to 125.
Notices from the Bulilima RDC instructing beneficiaries to stop developments on the disputed land were also recovered.
A total of 59 statements were recorded from beneficiaries during the investigation.
Some alleged beneficiaries could not be located, and certain stands had no developments.
ZACC indicated that the actions of the accused were inconsistent with their legal duties.
Chief Mphini maintained that all chiefs in the country are in charge of communal lands and are responsible for land allocation to their subjects through lower traditional leaders, such as village heads and kraal heads.
He said it is archaic to lay charges against him for exercising his constitutional jurisdiction.