Chipato (33),
who is alleged to have extorted a court attendee, is facing a charge of
extortion as defined in Section 134 and an alternative charge of bribery as
defined in Section 170(1)(a)(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform)
Act (Chapter 9:23).
He recently
appeared before Mutare provincial magistrate, Mrs Sekai Chiundura, while Mr
Tirivanhu Mutyasira prosecuted.
The State
alleged that between July 6 and 17, Chipato was presiding over a civil matter
in which Juliet Vera was the defendant.
“On July 6,
Chipato initiated contact with Vera and provided her with his personal contact
number. On July 7, he called Vera and instructed her to bring a token of
appreciation amounting to US$150 to him.
‘‘He assured
her that in return, he would rule in her favour by setting aside the case
against her due to improper service of summons,” said Mr Mutyasira.
It is alleged
that the following day, Chipato presided over the matter and ruled that the
summons had indeed been improperly served.
“A few hours
after the court session, he made repeated WhatsApp calls to Vera, and
explicitly demanded the US$150 payment. On July 12, the accused directly
contacted Juliet Vera, and subsequently threatened her, stating that she would
never win a civil case and that he was going to deal with her in a future case
for failing to fulfil his financial demands.
“He presided
over the main trial on July 17, after Vera failed to make the payment. During
these proceedings, he denied her the opportunity to present her defence,
accused her of wasting the court’s time, and immediately ruled against her by
ordering her to vacate her shop and pay the claimed debt.
‘‘He acted
unlawfully and in gross abuse of his judicial office for personal gain,” said
Mr Mutyasira.
Investigations
allegedly confirmed Chipato’s cellphone number through the EcoCash platform,
where the account is registered in his name.
Chipato was
remanded to November 14, on the following conditions – he deposits US$200 as
bail, reports to the ZACC offices fortnightly, resides at his given address,
and not to interfere with State witnesses. Manica Post
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