Former Bikita West legislator Munyaradzi Kereke’s chamber
application for leave to prosecute his appeal at the Supreme Court in a case in
which he is challenging the conviction and 14 years in prison for rape, has
been rejected.
Justice Jacob Manzunzu tossed out the application on a
technicality that it was defective for non-compliance with the rules of the
court.
The judge concurred with lawyer, Mr Charles Warara,
representing the guardian of the minor child who was raped by Kereke.
It was Mr Warara’s submission that there was no application
before the court because the papers were defective as they did not comply with
the rules, in particular that the application was not supported by an
affidavit.
Further, the judgment of the court that was being appealed
against was not made part of the application to be considered by the judge.
However, Kereke who was a self- actor in the matter,
insisted that his papers were in order as they stood amended in terms of the
court rules.
But Justice Manzunzu found that a chamber application
should be supported by an affidavit.
Even an amended chamber application, which the former
legislator filed with the court in an attempt to cure the defect could not help
him.
“In casu (present case), the chamber application is
incurably bad. With or without an application to amend the fact remains that
the application is fatally defective and cannot be cured by whatever means,”
said Justice Manzunzu.
The judge also accepted Mr Warara’s argument that there was
no application before the court and struck off the application for its
non-compliance with the rules. Kereke was in 2016 jailed for 14 years for
raping his then 10-year-old niece at gunpoint.
Four years of his jail time were suspended on condition of
good behaviour. He was also acquitted on another charge of indecently
assaulting the rape victim’s elder sister. Herald
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