Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono and Harare mayor Herbert Gomba were yesterday denied bail and remanded in custody to August 7 in two separate cases. Harare magistrate Ngoni Nduna ruled that Chin’ono was a danger to the public, that he was a flight risk and likely to interfere with State witnesses. The journalist, along with opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume were arrested on Monday and were charged with promoting planned protests against government on July 31. They face up to 10 years jail if found guilty. “Basically, this means journalism has been criminalised. The struggle against corruption should continue. People should not stop, they should carry on,” Chin’ono told journalists as he was being taken from the court. Gomba, arrested on Tuesday on allegations of improper allocation of residential stands, was denied bail by magistrate Bianca Makwande.
