Harare magistrate Takundwa Mtetwa yesterday issued a warrant of arrest against suspended Zanu PF Harare province youth chairman Godwin Gomwe after he failed to prosecute his appeal at the High Court.
BY PAIDAMOYO MUZULU
Gomwe was last October convicted by Mtetwa of criminal insult and was sentenced to 70 hours’ community service, but he lodged a defective appeal against both conviction and sentence at the High Court.
Gomwe was convicted of insulting an intelligence officer, Abraham Samushonga, and a Zanu PF delegate to the party congress held in the capital in December 2014.
The warrant of arrest was triggered after the High Court wrote to advise that Gomwe’s appeal had been discarded for lack of meeting the court rules.
In a letter dated December 29, 2015, the registrar of the High Court said the appeal had been struck off the register after Gomwe failed to pay for the preparation of the record.
“You noted an appeal against conviction/sentence. Despite noting the appeal, you have failed or neglected to pay the costs of preparation of the record,” the letter read.
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“The appeal is accordingly deemed abandoned and is hereby dismissed as failure to comply with rule 22(2) of the above-mentioned rules has invalidated the noting of the appeal.”
The High Court letter empowered Mtetwa to issue a warrant of arrest against Gomwe for him to immediately start serving his sentence. However, Gomwe has argued the Harare Magistrates’ Court committed a mistake by failing to send the receipt of his payment for the court record.
Gomwe produced a Judicial Service Commission receipt number 0097858 dated October 8, 2015 with a payment of $57 proving he paid for the record CRB 6730/15. Yesterday, Gomwe and his lawyer John Ndomene were trying frantically to stop the execution of the warrant.
