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The family of a girl allegedly raped by Bikita West legislator Dr Munyaradzi Kereke, wants Prosecutor-General Johannes Tomana charged with contempt of court for allegedly refusing to observe a court order compelling him to issue a certificate to prosecute the legislator. This follows two letters written to Tomana by the family’s lawyer Charles Warara over the past two months requesting him to act upon the order of the court.
Both letters have been ignored, according to the third letter written to the PG yesterday.
“We made specific request from your office to furnish us with a certificate of nolle prosqui but you have not responded,” said Warara in a letter dated December 3, 2014.
“We’re surprised by this attitude from your respected office. In light of this and the fact that we’ve a court order that we’re seeking to enforce we’re now left with no choice but to file an application for contempt of court and to compel you to issue the said certificate.”
Dr Kereke is alleged to have raped a then 11-year-old girl at gunpoint at his home in Vainona, Harare.
The family sued Tomana and his office at the High Court and won the case for the private prosecution of Dr Kereke.
Dr Kereke unsuccessfully appealed at the Supreme Court. In the High Court proceedings in which Justice Happias Zhou ordered Tomana to issue the certificate for Dr Kereke’s prosecution, the politician was not cited as a party and his decision to approach the Supreme Court contesting the same decision was wrong at law.
Dr Kereke’s lawyers conceded the error and unsuccessfully sought to withdraw the appeal.
The court of appeal ruled that a withdrawal was not possible because the case was improperly set before them and striking it off was the most appropriate action.
Telecel Zimbabwe is also seeking to take Tomana to Court over a similar matter.
He is allegedly defying a court order forcing him to issue a certificate for the private prosecution of the mobile phone company shareholder Jane Mutasa accused of swindling the company of airtime recharge vouchers worth more than $1,7 million.
Telecel lawyer Isaiah Mureriwa has also written several letters to Tomana’s lawyers Mambosasa Legal Practitioners asking them to advise their client to act on the Constitutional Court ruling in favour of the mobile phone company.
But Alex Mambosasa said his client was still waiting for reasons of the Constitutional Court’s decision for him to take appropriate action on the matter.
The ruling, however, sealed the fate for Mutasa, who is now set to face trial.
Mutasa was arrested in 2010 along with the company’s commercial director, Naguib Omar, for allegedly stealing airtime vouchers worth over $1,7 million.
Online Reporter