Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
MUSA Nyasha David Manyika was a high-flying executive on the path to the top of the corporate ladder at financial services giant Old Mutual.
But two moments of lust-induced weakness have ruined all that and he will spend the next 15 years in jail.
The Old Mutual business development manager, 41, who was convicted of raping a UZ student, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Manyika was convicted on two counts of rape by Harare regional magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni.
He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on each count but the sentence will run concurrently.
The complainant is a student at the UZ and was on an Old Mutual Scholarship.
In the first count, prosecutor Chido Gohori proved that in November 2022, Manyika sent a Whatsapp message asking the complainant to assist him to pack some banners at Old Mutual Gardens.
He then picked up the complainant from the University of Zimbabwe campus and drove to Old Mutual Gardens.
Upon arrival Manyika took the woman to his office where he raped her.
Afterwards, he apologised and gave her a branded T-shirt, a juice bottle and a cap.
He threatened the complainant not to disclose the matter to anyone as he would withdraw the scholarship from her.
On June 19, 2024, Manyika called the student after work, requesting to discuss her career.
The complainant met Manyika at Ashbrittle Shops.
After the conversation, he offered to drive the complainant home and, instead of stopping at the complainant’s gate, he drove into Belfast Road, turned immediate right, and then stopped.
Manyika adjusted the passenger seat, where the complainant was seated, removed her trousers and raped her once again.
He drove her to her home afterwards and asked for forgiveness.
Magistrate Chivasa found that the State managed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
