Saturday 5 October 2024

MASUNDA CLEARED OF INDECENT ASSAULT

Former mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has been cleared of indecent assault after the magistrate said the State’s case lacked evidence.

The magistrate said that the testimony from the witnesses showed some bias considering that she was the one who went to Masunda’s work place and after being allegedly assaulted, she further stayed for more than two hours .

The complainant is Ropafadzo Sibusiso Chidawu (34), the daughter of the late Harare Metropolitan Affairs minister Oliver Chidawu.

The court heard that on August 4, 2023, Chidawu went to Masunda’s workplace in Milton Park, Harare, to discuss some issues concerning the Oliver Mandishona Chidawu Trust and upon entering the office Masunda, expressed unwillingness to entertain her.

Chidawu had alleged that the accused wrestled her and she elbowed him. She said on realising that she was being attacked, she realised that she needed to get her cellphone so that she could record what was happening.

She claimed that she bent over and the accused grabbed her again, adding that she freed herself by using her left elbow to hit the accused. In the second assault, Chidawu alleged that Masunda charged towards her and grabbed her by the waist. She said she removed the keys from the door to the accused office, locked herself inside his office and put the keys in her dress, sat down and recorded the “meeting”.

After about two and half hours, she gave the accused back his office keys and left his office.

After his acquittal, Masunda told Newsday : “I don’t bear any ill-will towards Miss Ropafadzo Sibusiso Chidawu in spite of what she has done. I will continue working with Ngoni Kudenga in our joint endeavour, as co-trustees, to discharge our fiduciary duties in respect of the Oliver Mandishona Chidawu [OMC] Trust for and on behalf of the designated beneficiaries, especially OMC’s widow, Mrs S’piwe Chidawu (née Shemunyoro) and their two surviving daughters — Dadirai Martha Chidawu and Ropafadzo Sibusiso Chidawu.

“It should be noted that Mr Kudenga and I do not have any personal, financial or pecuniary interests in the OMC Trust and any of the companies that are beneficially owned and controlled by the said trust. We are simply acting pro amico [for a friend] as co-founders, with the late Douglas Tawanda Munatsi and OMC, of what is now the BancABC Group in the financial services sectors within the Sadc region.”

He said the acquittal marked “the end of this harrowing and unheard of saga since January 1974 (just over 50 years ago) when I began my involvement in various facets of the legal profession”.

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