Child molester Kereke still a free man despite losing appeal in the Supreme Court – The Zimbabwe Mail

HARARE – Child molester Munyaradzi Kereke is still a free man despite losing an appeal against his conviction in the Supreme Court.

Kereke, who was out on bail pending an appeal against the Supreme Court’s May 31 ruling, was due to surrender to prison authorities to serve the final 20 months of a 10-year prison sentence.

ZimLive gathered that the former Bikita West MP was still enjoying the comfort of his home on Sunday.

Charles Warara, the private prosecutor who prosecuted Kereke after the National Prosecuting Authority refused to take over the rape case, said police must arrest him and take him to Chikurubi maximum security prison, where he will serve his sentence before being released on bail in 2021 pending an appeal.

Warara told ZimLive: “His lawyer called me and said his client had a commercial matter in the High Court on Monday and had to appear for the hearing. He asked if he could go to prison afterwards.

“That’s how I understood his lawyer’s reasoning. That doesn’t mean we agreed, but there’s nothing we can do to force him to go to prison because we did our part.”

“The police have a duty to arrest him… He must surrender and if he does not, he must be arrested and taken into custody.”

Kereke was convicted of rape by Harare magistrate Noel Mupeiwa in 2016 after Warara proved that he raped his 11-year-old niece between March and August 2010 after threatening her with a gun. He was sentenced to a total of ten years in prison.

He appealed the verdict but lost in the High Court before appealing to the Supreme Court.

On May 31, Supreme Court Appeal Judges Samuel Kudya, Tendai Uchena and George Chiweshe dismissed his appeal.

The judges stated: “The private prosecution was able to prevail despite the insurmountable hurdles that were put in its way by the overall inadequate investigation by the police.”

“It also overcame the strenuous refusal of the Attorney General (Johannes Tomana) to prosecute Kereke and his unlawful refusal to
Certificate nolle prosequi, to the victim.”

Related