A 2018 election agent for the Nelson Chamisa-led opposition MDC Alliance in Hurungwe West constituency has been cleared of the rape charges he has been facing, the party announced Friday afternoon.
Tonderai Kavhukatema who was the Chief Election Agent for Hurungwe West MDC-A candidate Wilson Makanyaire in the last elections held in 2018, was cleared of the charges of raping a Zanu PF activist in the area.
Kavhukatema, who was represented by the party’s vice chairperson and lawyer Job Sikhala was cleared by the Karoi Regional magistrate, of the rape charges he was facing, on the basis of the inconsistency of the complainant who was grossly exposed by the ‘most grueling cross examination the court has witnessed in a long time by the defense Counsel’, said national youth spokesperson Stephen Tshuma.
“The MDC Alliance candidate for Hurungwe West Wilson Makanyaire’s 2018 Chief Election Agent Tonderai Kavhukatema has been acquitted by the Karoi Regional Magistrate on trumped up rape charges by a ZANU PF activist and member. Munyaradzi Muringazuva concocted the false rape charges as a way to go for our esteemed leader Makanyaire,” Tshuma said.
Kavhukatema’s lawyer Job Sikhala also expressed elation over the outcome of the verdict which he called the ‘big victory’ for the party.
“I enjoyed this case because after noticing the lies that were packed by the complainant, it needed myself to be patient and travel her path and unlock all the lies,” he said.
“I went for every material evidence she adduced to the court and take it, exposing her one by one. If it was not of my observation on the inconsistency of her long testimony, the innocent young man could have gone to jail for nothing. This is the big victory for the party and the Makanyaire family. They were put under a dangerous trap,” said Sikhala.
The opposition is on record accusing Zimbabwean courts of being captured by the ruling Zanu PF leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa who purpotedly wants to fix the opposition for ‘defeating him’ in the disputed 2018 elections.
Chamisa has defiantly refused to recognise Mnangagwa as the constitutionally-elected president of the Republic of Zimbabwe since 2018.
Zwnews
