Incarcerated former Bikita West MP, Munyaradzi Kereke’s bail pending appeal application on changed circumstances, yesterday failed to take place at the High Court and the hearing was postponed to tomorrow after the victim’s guardian requested time to go through Kereke’s submissions.
BY CHARLES LAITON
The former legislator is serving a 10-year effective jail term for raping his relative’s 12-year-old daughter at gunpoint at his residence sometime in 2010.
The complainant in the matter, Francis Maramwidze, through his private lawyers representing the State, told High Court judge, Justice Tawanda Chitapi that Kereke had served them with his application late last Friday and, as such, they had not had ample time to read and to file their response.
The matter was eventually postponed by consent.
In his application through his lawyers, Mutandiro, Chetsanga and Associates, Kereke said he had lived in Zimbabwe most of his life and had three wives and 17 children, 10 of them minors, who rely on him for sustenance.
Kereke further said after the dismissal of his bail pending appeal application, his estranged wife, Elizabeth Sibanda visited him in prison and offered to be surety for his release on bail.
Sibanda is said to have offered her immovable property, as surety and to house Kereke until the finalisation of his appeal.
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Sibanda is said to have offered a property in Mandara, while Kereke’s two other relatives, Arnold and Barbarah Chidakwa, also chipped in and offered a piece of land situated in Harare as surety for his release.
In the court papers, Sibanda is further said to have offered to fund any overhead costs that might be incurred in connection with a State, while implementing proposed house arrest on Kereke.
The former legislator is praying to be granted bail on condition that he deposits $3 000, surrenders title deeds for a Mandara property and for a piece of land offered by the Chidakwa family, that he resides at his given address until finalisation of the appeal and that he reports at Harare Central Police Station every day.
