State Aids Criminal To Flee Abroad

By Staff Reporter
In a case that punches holes and leaves a black mark on the judiciary system, a complainant in Chiredzi recently red-flagged the State at Chiredzi Magistrate Court on allegations of helping an accused person to flee out of the country to avoid jail.
Clever Bandama, a farmer at Lot 22 in Hippo Valley had his 35 bundles of sugarcane allegedly stolen by Tafadzwa Mugabe who contracts a group of Cane cutters to do cutting for various farmers.
Bandama contracted Mugabe to cut his cane in 2018. Mugabe engaged his cutters and managed to cut 34 more bundles than what was agreed while Bandama was in Harare. He sold the stolen bundles to Hippo Valley using his mother, Agness Mugabe’s grower’s number.
Upon his return, Bandama found out that his cane was stolen and tried to contact Mugabe but the latter became evasive. He reported the matter to the Police at Chiredzi and Mugabe was arrested and hauled before the court facing one count of theft of sugarcane bundles valued at US$12 000.

Bandama told this publication that in the course of the trial, the matter was assigned to a prosecutor who is related (Cousin brother)to the accused but he intervened until another prosecutor took over the matter.
Mugabe, however, smelled the gallows as the matter neared completion and he decided to skip the border to the UK.
Bandama claims his escape was made easy by State prosecutors who hid the Docket at the Court instead of sending it to the Police who would then act upon instructions on the docket.
The last person who was supposed to be served was the investigating officer who was later served with the papers 5 months after the accused had fled.
Mugabe is believed to be holed in England.
“I am made to believe that corruption is too much at our Court and to this end I finger out the Prosecutors for aiding this criminal to flee. How can it take 5 months to summon the Investigating Officer to Court? The Officer was the last state witness who had all the evidence on how the cane was stolen. This was a deliberate and calculated delay to allow the accused to prepare his way out of the country”, Bandama said.
Mugabe is now on the International Police(INTERPOL) wanted list. Bandama said he had since gathered that Prosecutors are making frantic efforts to water down the case from criminal to civil through legal opinions.
“I have gathered that Prosecutors have written a legal opinion stating that the matter must be handled as a civil matter and not criminal. The same person vetted the case in 2019 and approved it to be criminal. Why now? I suspect that they want to sway Interpol off the radar”, Bandama added.
Moreblessing Rusere is the head of the prosecution at Chiredzi. She is not allowed to talk to the media.
Zimbabwean Courts are in the limelight of being captured and corrupted by people with money or high-ranking officials. This pathetic scenario has left the judiciary system in jeopardy.