BY CHARLES LAITON
FORMER Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere has withdrawn an application in which he was seeking to compel the State to comply with a court order which instructed it to release title deeds to his Nyanga property.
Kasukuwere withdrew the matter after it was set down for hearing before High Court judge Justice Edith Mushore, who apparently had previously dealt with the case.
In a notice filed on Friday last week, directed to the Registrar of the High Court, Donald Ndirowei, Kasukuwere’s lawyers, Kantor and Immerman, said the former legislator indicated that he had decided to withdraw his application.
“Take notice that the applicant (Saviour Kasukuwere), hereby, withdraws his application and tenders wasted costs,” part of the brief notice read.
On March 12, 2020, Kasukuwere wrote to the Registrar of the High Court seeking to have the matter brought before a different judge, other than Justice Mushore, arguing she once dealt with a case that had the same “subject matter” in April last year and had already made her determination.
“It is, therefore, abundantly clear that the honourable judge (Justice Mushore) has made certain pronouncements in her judgment which affect the matter before her,” Kasukuwere said through his lawyer Harrison Nkomo.
“Against that background, we kindly request that you place this letter before her for further administration. We are under instructions to request that the matter be placed before a different judge.”
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In the said previous matter placed before Justice Mushore, Kasukuwere had sought to bar the State from auctioning his Nyanga property which it had confiscated after he had surrendered it to the court as surety.
This followed his failure to appear at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts where he was facing four charges of criminal abuse of office.
However, Justice Mushore then struck Kasukuwere’s application off the roll, indicating that he should come back to Zimbabwe from South Africa and purge his contempt of court first.
But on review of his criminal matter in August last year, another High Court judge Justice Tawanda Chitapi went on to quash the criminal charges against Kasukuwere, prompting him to make an application demanding the return of his title deeds.
The matter was heard by High Court judge David Mangota, who then ruled in his favour.
However, since then, Kasukuwere has not been given back his title deeds and this prompted him to approach the court seeking to compel the State to comply with Justice Mangota’s ruling.
In his current application, Kasukuwere cited the chief magistrate and the clerk of court as co-respondents.
