adminA FORMER High Court prosecutor, Henry Mugove Muringani, is today serving a 20-year jail term after he was convicted of criminal abuse of duty this week.
He will serve an effective 12 years.
Muringani was jailed for his corrupt practices which saw him facilitating the release of four armed robbers on bail using false documents.
He was convicted after a full trial by Harare magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa, who sentenced him to 20 years, and suspended eight years.
Magistrate Gofa was damning in his criticism of Muringani, a man who swore to uphold the law and then, driven by greed, decided to use his position to manipulate the justice system for his own financial benefits.
The magistrate said because of who he was, and what he had sworn to serve, Muringani’s moral blameworthiness was very high.
This was a man who was leading a rogue operation in which he put spanners into the good works of the CID Homicide detectives, after they had executed their mandate well, and arrested Tatenda Tawanda Mutengo.
Wanted for armed robbery, Mutengo had been on the run since October 2021 until his arrest in December that year.
He was denied bail and advised to apply for bail at the High Court where his application was subsequently dismissed.
In remand prison, Mutengo learnt that a National Prosecuting Authority official was assisting armed robbery and other dangerous criminals to get bail.
And, after payment of a considerable amount of US dollars, and falsifying of documents, with Muringani playing the leading role, Mutengo was granted bail on February 8.
The other CRB 12196/21 relating to his armed robbery charge was not captured in the bail release order and he was sent back to remand prison.
On February 17, Muringani facilitated another bail application using CRB 12196/21 using a rape charge and charged Murenzvi US$200.
Mutengo appeared in court for bail on February 23 as a self-actor using the forged papers, and was granted $10 000.
Police received this information and arrested Muringani, and discovered that he had used the same modus operandi to get three other armed robbers released on bail.
Muringani was once charged for attempted murder in 2014 after he allegedly ran over his wife with a car.
In his shadowy operation, in which he had transformed himself into some sort of mastermind, orchestrating the release of dangerous criminals, Muringani thought he was now untouchable.
He was a man who was supposed to uphold the law and, instead, he had become the chief architect in trying to ensure that hurdles were erected to try and defeat the course of justice.
It feels good when such rogue officials, in our justice system, are found and sent to where they belong – prison.
It also should be a lesson to others, who could be tempted to go the same path, driven by greed, that the law will always catch up with them.
Muringani was a threat to our justice delivery system and deserves all that he got.
Online Reporter