Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
THE trial of suspended Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) legal officer, Grace Kurasha, took an unexpected twist yesterday when former Council for Legal Education secretary, Huggins Duri, testified in her defence and absolved her of any wrongdoing.
Appearing before Harare regional magistrate Mr Taurai Manuwere, Duri dismissed allegations that Kurasha fraudulently obtained her practising certificate, insisting that her academic record and certificates were authentic.
“It’s impossible to allege that Kurasha did not write her conversion examinations. Her degree class and performance at the University of Zambia, where she studied law, speak for themselves,” he said.
Duri stressed that all of Kurasha’s certificates bore genuine signatures, making forgery impossible.
“If she had failed her exams, she would not have obtained her degree or certificate. Nothing here is fraudulent,” he said.
In a dramatic moment, Duri also sought to distance himself from the case, questioning why the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) had implicated him.
With a touch of humour, he quipped: “When I saw her here, I realised how beautiful she is. Maybe the only crime I could have committed was proposing to her.”
He further rejected claims by his successor at the Council for Legal Education, who had alleged that Duri colluded with Kurasha to issue her a practising certificate without the required qualifications.
Duri described the allegations as baseless and intended to tarnish his reputation.
According to the State, Kurasha graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Lusaka in 2020 before enrolling in a mandatory bridging course at the University of Zimbabwe for foreign-trained law graduates.
Prosecutors allege that she failed to complete the course and instead fraudulently obtained a practising certificate from the Council for Legal Education.
The State further claims Kurasha paid US$1 000 to one Shorai Mupunga, who was allegedly tasked with passing the money to Duri in exchange for facilitating the certificate.
Kurasha is accused of later using the document to apply for admission as a legal practitioner at the High Court.
The trial continues.
