BULAWAYO – The Supreme Court has granted bail to Italian-born businessman Francesco Marconati, overturning a High Court decision that had kept him in custody despite the National Prosecuting Authority not opposing his release.
In a ruling handed down on 31 December 2025, judge of appeal Justice Tendai Uchena allowed Marconati’s bail appeal by consent, setting aside the decision of the High Court and admitting him to bail pending trial on multiple charges.
“The appellant’s bail appeal be and is hereby allowed. The decision of the court a quo is set aside,” Justice Uchena ruled.
The apex court ordered that Marconati be released on bail in respect of three matters, including alleged contraventions of the Firearms Act and one count of assault, all arising from cases registered at Inyathi Magistrates Court.
Under the ruling, Marconati must deposit a total of US$2,000, split across two criminal cases, report to Inyathi Police Station every fortnight, surrender his passport, and remain resident at Queens Mine, Bubi–Inyathi, Matabeleland North, until the cases are finalised. He was also ordered not to interfere with state witnesses.
The application was argued by Advocate Lewis Uriri for Marconati, with T.P. Mutarisi appearing for the NPA, which again did not oppose bail.
The Supreme Court decision brings to an end a turbulent bail saga that began early last month, when a magistrate and then High Court judge Ngoni Nduna refused Marconati bail, even though the NPA had formally consented to his release.
In that earlier ruling, the High Court acknowledged that the prosecution believed the magistrates’ court had erred in refusing bail, but nonetheless dismissed Marconati’s appeal, citing submissions by the investigating officer that he was a flight risk and had a propensity to commit offences.
The decision triggered widespread debate in legal circles, especially as it came on the same day that the High Court granted bail to Marconati’s employee, Mbekezeli Ngwabi, who is alleged to have fatally shot a man who trespassed on Duration Gold Limited 5 Mine in Inyathi on November 30.
Ngwabi was released on US$800 bail, a contrast that many lawyers described as deeply troubling.
Senior counsel Uriri had argued that once the prosecution concedes bail, “the court has no choice in the matter – the accused must be released,” a position now effectively vindicated by the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Although not addressed in the Supreme Court order, Marconati’s prolonged detention had fuelled claims that external commercial and political interests were influencing the case.
It has been alleged that powerful figures linked to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son, Emmerson Junior, together with Li Song, a Chinese national described as Marconati’s former business partner and girlfriend, were seeking to gain control of his gold mining operations in Bubi and Inyathi, Matabeleland North, and that keeping him incarcerated weakened his ability to resist such moves.
These allegations have not been tested in court and are strongly disputed by parties close to those named.
Marconati, 66, runs Eagle Italian Shoes and Eagle Italian Leather in Marondera, gold mining interests in Matabeleland North, a lodge in Mana Pools in the Zambezi Valley, and Strengthened Investments (Private) Limited.
His companies have previously supplied leather shoes, helmets and baton sticks to the Zimbabwe National Army.
