Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka-Chisepo
Court Correspondent
A MAN, who was impersonating Deputy Chief Justice Paddington Garwe in an alleged bid to obtain information from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), has been jailed for two years.
Martin Rashai pleaded guilty to impersonation charges when he appeared before Harare magistrate Artwell Sanyatwe.
The State was represented by prosecutor Dzidzai Josiah.
According to the prosecution, on May 5, this year, the JSC’s Deputy Head of Human Resources, Sekeni Tafadzwa, and Human Resources Officer, Abigail Ziti, received WhatsApp messages from a person, who identified himself as Deputy Chief Justice Garwe.
The accused requested information regarding upcoming interviews for IT officer positions and also inquired about a transport officer vacancy at Kwekwe Magistrates’ Court.
The inquiries raised suspicion as they appeared unusual for a Constitutional Court judge to follow up on junior-level vacancies, or to contact human resources officials directly, instead of engaging the relevant department heads.
When asked where he was stationed, the sender reportedly claimed that he was based at the Constitutional Court, leading Ziti to believe she was communicating with the Deputy Chief Justice.
She subsequently shared the requested information.
The court heard that Ziti later attempted to call the number, but it was not reachable.
A WhatsApp call also went unanswered, with the sender instead requesting that communication continue through text messages.
Seeking further confirmation, Ziti asked whether she was communicating with Deputy Chief Justice Garwe, and the sender allegedly confirmed that, indeed, he was the judge.
However, on May 6, this year, Ziti checked the Deputy Chief Justice’s official contact details in the Human Resources system and discovered that the number used to contact her did not match those on official records.
The following day, she reported the matter to Sekeni, who revealed that he, too, had been contacted by the same number.
Internal investigations established that the sender was impersonating Deputy Chief Justice Garwe.
The matter was escalated on May 8 before being reported to the police.
Detectives from the CID Harare Criminal Investigations Department launched investigations and established that Rashai had previously applied for employment with the JSC.
Using information obtained from his application, investigators traced and arrested him in Hurungwe.
The court heard that police also obtained a warrant authorising NetOne Zimbabwe to provide subscriber details and call records linked to the mobile number used in the alleged offence.
Investigations revealed that the number was registered in Rashai’s name, leading to his arrest and subsequent court appearance.
