HARARE – Former Zanu PF legislator Munyaradzi Kereke is going back to jail to finish the remaining 20 months of his rape sentence, a three-panel Supreme Court bench has ruled.
The one-time advisor to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono was bailed in 2021 in between a 10-year jail term
However, in 2021 he was granted bail pending a Supreme Court appeal against a 2016 conviction for raping his then 11-year-old niece.
Justices Tendai Uchena, George Chiweshe and Samuel Kudya said the former Bikita lawmaker and businessman had nothing to argue.
“The complainant was the primary witness, whose testimony passed the requisite threshold of credibility set out in case law.
“It was also supported, especially by medical evidence and the deliberate lies that were propagated by the appellant (Kereke) and his witnesses.
“We are therefore satisfied that the defence of an alibi was properly disproved and shown to be false beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Similarly, the prosecution established beyond a reasonable doubt that all the defence witnesses were coached by Kereke.
“The defence of an alibi and the other exculpatory evidence of the defence witnesses were clearly shown not only to be reasonably untrue but also to be palpably false,” said the Uchena who was chairing the bench.
Uchena applauded Warara for proving the case against Kereke.
“The private prosecution prevailed against indomitable hurdles placed in its way by a generally lackluster investigation by the police.
“It also overcame the spirited refusal by the Prosecutor-General to prosecute the appellant and his unlawful refusal to issue a certificate nolle prosequi (not wish to prosecute), to the first respondent.
“The requisite certificate constitutes a condition precedent for the institution of a private prosecution by a private party imbued with a substantial and peculiar interest in the matter.
“In addition, the appellant fervently fought to avoid the institution of the private prosecution until his antics were stopped by the Constitutional Court,” said the judge.
By the time the private prosecution commenced in earnest, a period of 5 years had elapsed from the time the alleged offence was committed.
The record of proceedings shows that after the allegations came to light, under the guise of fighting corruption, Kereke in person or by proxy) embarked on a no holds barred crusade against senior Zanu PF politicians, Gono, the former director of the RBZ’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the Director-General of the Central Intelligence Organisation and one of his divisional directors.
The court heard Kereke also levelled unfounded and unproven allegations of misconduct against any one he perceived to be working in cahoots with the complainant, including one David Butau, the victim’s guardians and the private prosecutor.
Kereke was charged, firstly, with one count of indecent assault on his elder niece and one count of rape on the younger niece.
The two girls are sisters.
Kereke is married in a polygamous union to their paternal aunt.
The aunt would occasionally call the girls to play with her sons.
The respective dates of the alleged indecent assault and rape were an unknown date in March 2010 and 21 August 2010.
The two sisters were 14 and 11 years old. When they testified on 11 January 2016, they were 20 and 16 years old.
It was proved that he raped the younger niece at gunpoint.
He was however acquitted on the count of indecent assault.
The prosecution had called the evidence of Mirirai Chiremba, the then Director of Financial Intelligence and Security at the Central Bank and his deputy in charge of security Grasham Muradzikwa.
They both said Kereke was his superior and a “powerful man” in his position as an economic advisor to the central bank governor.
The family of the victim happy with the dismissal of Kereke’s appeal noting that justice has finally prevailed.
“I had a call from the clients and they are appeal that the case has finally come to its final end and at least we have been vindicated by the courts,” Warara told ZimLive on Friday.
Warara said he was happy that Kereke’s fate has finally been put to bed.
“As you are aware, the history is long and major concerns were that there were serious allegations against me in person and against the family as well that we were trying to solicit money and that I was being used for political ends but all that has fallen by wayside as can be seen.
“All the judges agreed that there isn’t anything other than that a crime was committed.”
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