Prosecutor Kasema to spend Christmas in custody

By Daniel Kachere

Harare magistrate Ngoni Nduna has denied prosecutor Tapiwa Kasema bail on charges of criminal abuse of office.
Nduna said Kasema was a flight risk as shown by his disappearance when he realised that his conduct was likely to be prosecuted.
Kasema was remanded in custody to 5 January 2021.
Nduna ruled that the fact that he absented himself from work without official leave and switched off his cellphone was a sign that he was likely to abscond.
“Accused did take flight when he realised that allegations were to be pursued by the police. When a person has shown capacity to flee, no decision can be arrived at to stifle that resolve. The State established the ground of abscondment and proved that he intended to flee. Accordingly, I refuse to grant bail in this matter,” Nduna said.
Kasema, who is attached to the Asset Forfeiture Unit, was hauled before the courts last Friday on charges of criminal abuse of duty as a public officer.
He is alleged to have consented to bail for suspected notorious armed robber Musa Taj Abdul, and his accomplices Tapiwa Rudolf Kanhanga and Godfrey Mupamhanga, who were arrested in Beitbridge with five others on August 24 this year.
According to State papers, Kasema was tasked with two other prosecutors to respond to the bail applications made by the trio at the High Court.
Kasema reportedly consented to the admittance of Abdul and team to bail through written submissions without following laid down procedure.
CID Homicide queried the granting of bail to the trio.
During the bail hearing, Detective Assistant Inspector Collius Mushambi, who investigated the case, told the court that Kasema’s consent to bail was supposed to follow a standard operating procedure and a memorandum authored by Michael Mugabe, head of the set down department from the NPA, to all chief law officers, which was supposed to be adhered to by prosecutors but he breached this highlighting a clear nexus to the offence.
The State led by Lancelot Mutsokoti submitted that Kasema was an unsuitable candidate for bail as he did not possess valuable assets within the jurisdiction of the court and if he were to flee, he would have no value to lose.
Mutsokoti submitted that for the purposes of bail the court must consider whether public peace, order and security will not be adversely affected by the release of the accused.
“The nation was shocked by the accused’s conduct and the suspects the accused released had been arrested through the exchange of gunfire with the police who were in danger.
“If released on bail the public will no longer trust our justice system creating a vacuum where mob justice will manifest itself giving law enforcement agents a hard time as chaos will be created,” Mutsokoti said.
Kasema through his lawyer Steady Kachere submitted that the court was a creation of statute guided by the law in the exercise of its function hence it should not be swayed by public opinion in granting its decision.
“The State has dismally failed to demonstrate how public order or the interests of justice will be disturbed by the release of the accused on bail. Instead, it is trying to intimidate the court from doing its work and the court should not be swayed by public opinion in considering bail.”
Kachere stated that his client was not a flight risk after loyally serving the civil service for over twenty years and he did not breach any procedure while dispensing his duty.
“From the circumstances of the case, it is not logical for the State to propose that he was on the run given the sequence of events.
“According to the Constitution, the Prosecutor General is mandated to publicly disclose and publish how criminal proceedings should be instituted. Section 16 of the NPA Act goes on to state how these principles should be published through a general notice in the Gazette and such other media for the principles to be brought to the attention of the public, which was not done,” Kachere said. Nhau/Indaba