As Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change, Roy Bennett entered the high court Wednesday to hear the verdict on treason trial authorities here have slapped him with new charges of breaching grain trade laws.
The former Chimanimani white tobacco farmer has been served with a summons by police and is expected to appear in court on April 6.
The summons claims that sometime in October 2001, the MDC treasurer general, was unlawfully found in possession of about 90,000 metric tonnes of maize, which he had not declared to authorities according to the country’s Grain Marketing board legislation.
Bennett has since said the grain was meant to be food for his farm workers and part of it stock feed adding that members of the army confiscated it from him at the height of farm invasions by President Robert Mugabe’s henchmen.
Tsvangirai’s MDC party has already dismissed charges that Bennett plotted to assassinate President Mugabe, arguing they are trumped up and politically motivated.
The new charges have a potential to increase the tension between Tsvangirai’s MDC and President Mugabe’s Zanu PF as the inclusive government formed in February is battling to resolve outstanding issues in the political agreement.
Bennett, who is the MDC deputy agriculture minister designate, is still to be sworn in, with Mugabe saying he is waiting for the courts to clear him first.
It is still to be seen if Bennett will walk a free man or not by end of Wednesday.
