By ZBC Reporter
FORMER Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Petronella Kagonye who is facing charges of fraud, theft and criminal abuse of office has been granted bail after appearing at the Harare magistrates court this Tuesday.
The charges emanate from the alleged illegal sale of state land in Mashonaland East and Harare provinces when she was a Cabinet Minister and Goromonzi South legislator.
Kagonye who was arrested on Sunday was granted 30 thousand Zimbabwe dollars bail.
Allegations are that Kagonye allegedly sold ZB Bank owned Solomio farm to two different housing cooperatives, with Vaduku housing cooperative paying 38 thousand 500 Zimbabwe dollars, and Shingiriro housing cooperative 48 thousand 500 Zimbabwe dollars.
She also allegedly received 148 thousand 500 Zimbabwe dollars from Solomon Mujuru housing cooperative for Cloverdale farm in Goromonzi.
In another charge, Kagonye allegedly failed to account for 20 computers which she acquired from the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services for an eLearning school project in Goromonzi South constituency.
The criminal abuse of office charge is for the alleged unprocedural issuance and allocation of land to his brother, Ishmael when Kagonye was a Chief Lands Officer in the then Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement.
She is expected back in court on the 30th of March.
The State said she is not a flight risk and she is nursing and a seven-month old baby.
She was ordered to reside at the stipulated address, not to interfere with witnesses and surrender passport as part of her bail conditions.
Her arrest comes after government pledged to deal with all cases of illegal parcelling out of state land and irregular allocations by land barons, developers and local authority officials.