via Kereke bid dismissed – DailyNews Live Tarisai Machakaire • 14 January 2016
HARARE – Bikita West Zanu PF MP Munyaradzi Kereke, yesterday attempted to withdraw hospital evidence confirming his wife’s niece had been raped.
Magistrate Noel Mupeiwa dismissed his application to have the first complainant’s medical card discarded from the court record.
The medical record was obtained from Harare Central Hospital.
“Whether this document implicates the accused person or not is a determination that this court will have to make,” Mupeiwa ruled.
“The court already made a ruling and parties cannot be made to go back and revise their conduct simply because the defence seem to have perceived their errors.”
If convicted, Kereke faces a lengthy prison term of up to 20 years.
His lawyers, James Makiya and Nathaniel Chigoro argued that the card was not obtained at the State’s instance.
“…among the documents handed to the private prosecutor by the prosecutor-general, the same document did not constitute the package.
“It is an alien paper sneaked into the court records and has never been subject of police investigations,” Kereke’s lawyer Makiya argued.
“The purported medical card only found its way into the prosecutor’s hands without the knowledge and involvement of the police.”
Makiya also requested for a court order sanctioning Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and Telecel Zimbabwe to provide call history records of the complainants from January 1 to November 1, 2010.
That application was granted.
Private prosecutor Charles Warara lambasted Makiya and his team for attempting to buy the court’s time by evoking procedures that are not acceptable at law.
“The accused person wants the court to play to his tune, that, if he chooses to have a certain document removed or tendered, then his wish is the command,” Warara said.
“He should be taught that he cannot dictate to the court and the defence counsel ought to be fully aware that a matter done by private prosecution does not direct operations of the police, neither can they direct the private prosecutor.”
Warara condemned the defence’s intention to review a ruling that had been passed by the magistrate.
“The court made a decision that the said document be admitted by consent.
“If the other party wishes to withdraw, then cogent reason must be put before the court,” added Warara.
“The police and prosecutor-general were inactive and even assisted the accused person notwithstanding the conviction that was held by the complainants.
“Why then should we be hamstrung by entities that showed no interest in this matter?”
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