Michael Mapwika initially appeared before Lupane magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba in March, accused of calling Mugabe a baboon.
He was remanded out of custody to April 1 for the continuation of trial after pleading not guilty to the charges.
But he failed to appear in court, leading to prosecutors applying for the warrant of arrest on Thursday.
Mapwika was travelling along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road on November 26 last year when he allegedly uttered the offending words.
The state alleged that Mapwika said in Shona “Mugabe haana nebasa rese handineyi naye ini. Mugabe ndiPresident wokuti chii? Mugabe igudo.” (“Mugabe is useless, I don’t have anything to do with him. What president. He is a baboon.”)
He was arrested by police officers who overheard him and was charged with undermining the authority of the president.
Meanwhile, the case of a white businessman Brian Davison (59) who allegedly accused police of fundraising for a “broke government of Mugabe” resumed on Tuesday after the Attorney General’s office recommended his prosecution.
The case had been in limbo since last year because the AG had not given prosecutors the go ahead.
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Foster, of Heyman Road Suburbs in Bulawayo, represented by Matshobana Ncube and Kucaca Phulu of Phulu and Ncube legal practitioners, appeared before Lupane resident magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba on Tuesday. But the case was postponed to August 31 before plea after the key state witnesses, who are police officers, failed to turn up for unclear reasons.
The state’s case is that Foster, who is the director of Foster Irrigation Scheme in Bulawayo, on May 19 last year was allegedly driving a Toyota Fortuner along Victoria Falls road when he was stopped by police at a roadblock in Lupane.
He was charged for speeding and when he was asked to produce his driver’s licence and pay a fine, Forster allegedly told the police officers that they were trying to “raise money for the poor and broke Mugabe government”. Forster allegedly drove off the scene, but was arrested when he reached Victoria Falls.
Ncube said his client never insulted Mugabe, but said he would pay the fine as the government needed the money.
