Yeukai Karengezeka-Chisepo
Court Correspondent
FORMER Old Mutual business development manager Musa Nyasha Dube Manyika is a free man after the High Court quashed his conviction and 15-year prison sentence for rape.
Manyika had been convicted of two counts of rape and sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Harare magistrate after he was found guilty of raping a female student who was on internship at Old Mutual.
However, the High Court overturned the conviction after finding that the trial magistrate had failed to properly record the proceedings and that there were gross irregularities in the manner in which the trial was conducted.
Manyika was represented by Advocates Lewis Uriri, Admire Rubaya and Norman Chimuka.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Isaac Muzenda, Davison Foroma and Godfrey Musariri found that the irregularities were serious enough to warrant the quashing of the conviction.
The court’s decision means that Manyika is no longer serving the 15-year sentence imposed by the lower court.
In the magistrates’ court, the State alleged that the first rape occurred in November 2022 when the complainant, then aged 24, received a WhatsApp message from Manyika asking her to report to Old Mutual Gardens to assist with packing banners.
The court heard that upon arrival, the complainant went to the basement where the banners were stored and completed the task.
It was alleged that Manyika then called her to his office, locked the door and sexually assaulted her.
The State alleged that he pushed the complainant onto a table before raping her.
The second incident allegedly occurred on June 19, 2024, after Manyika contacted the complainant again.
According to the State, the two met at Ashbrittle Shops, where Manyika, who also oversaw the Old Mutual Scholarship programme, invited the complainant into his vehicle.
It was further alleged that Manyika then had sexual intercourse with her without her consent.
The High Court, however, found that the irregularities in the recording and conduct of the proceedings in the lower court warranted the quashing of the conviction.
