Kereke case deferred to March 3

Chief Court Reporter
THE case in which the guardian of an 11-year-old rape complainant is seeking to compel the police and National Prosecuting Authority to charge Bikita West National Assembly member Dr Munyaradzi Kereke with rape was yesterday postponed to next Monday.
Mr Francis Maramwidze, the complainant’s guardian, brought an application to the High Court seeking the arrest and prosecution of the legislator. The court will determine whether or not Dr Kereke should be prosecuted for rape.

The case, which was supposed to be heard before Justice Happias Zhou, was deferred to March 3 because the NPA was not represented.
The applicant’s lawyer, Mr Charles Warara, told The Herald: “The law officer dealing with the case was said to be ill, so the judge had to postpone the matter to March 3.”

Mr Maramwidze, who claims Dr Kereke is trying to persuade the complainant to drop charges, said he reported the alleged rape in October 2009 but police did nothing about it.

While Mr Maramwidze approached the High Court for relief, Dr Kereke has gone to the Constitutional Court seeking a permanent stay of prosecution arguing that there is no evidence linking him to the commission of the offence.

Dr Kereke is alleged to have raped the then 11-year-old girl at gunpoint at his home in Vainona, Harare.
He denies the allegations saying this was a smear campaign emanating from his acrimonious feud with the former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Dr Gideon Gono.
Dr Kereke for years worked as Dr Gono’s advisor but the two have since fallen out.