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The Herald
Fidelis Munyoro and Freeman Razemba
PROSECUTOR Tapiwa Kasema, who is under investigation for consenting to bail four notorious armed robbers led by alleged gang leader Musa Taj Abdul, is at large, hours after Attorney General Kumbirai Hodzi suspended him from his functions.
Harare Central Police Station officers, who were eager to question him when the investigation began yesterday, were unable to locate him at his home in Glen View 3, where his family professed to be unaware of his whereabouts.
Sources said police first visited Kasema’s residence on 49th Crescent Tuesday night, but did not find him.
Later they went to their mother’s house where the search yielded the same result.
Continued efforts to locate him yesterday were unsuccessful.
The national police spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Nyathi, was unable to comment on the issue yesterday, saying it was still premature.
However, law enforcement sources said authorities had launched a manhunt for Kasema.
He was arrested in May last year for criminal abuse of office charges after he allegedly consented to the release of a passport that belonged to former cabinet minister Ignatius Chombo, who faces a series of corruption allegations.
Abdul, 47, was released on bail by Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Chikowero along with co-defendants Godfrey Mupamhanga (27), Rudolf Tapiwa Kanhanga (29), and Douglas Mutenda (31), but remained in custody while all four face new charges.
Before they could post bail Tuesday, police filed new charges against the suspects and requested that they remain in custody pending their pretrial hearing on the new charges and further investigations.
The four were arrested in Beitbridge in August along with five others: Charles Lundu (47), Tapiwa Mangoma alias Tapa (27), Innocent Jairosi (32), Prince Makodza (31) and Liberty Mupamhanga (29).
The Attorney General’s legal director, Justin Uladi, confirmed Kasema’s suspension, saying the matter has been referred to the police for investigation as they prepare to file an appeal against the High Court decision.
“We are proceeding to suspend Tapiwa Kasema, who agreed to bail in the case of the armed assailants,” said Mr. Uladi.
“In addition, we have referred his case to the police for investigation because we believe that the consent was made in a corrupt way.
Mr. Uladi said that the State is appealing against Judge Chikowero’s decision to grant bail.
“Our prosecutor did not have the necessary authority to present the consent order according to our standard operating procedures,” he said.
“Furthermore, the judge was wrong to trust a concession that was made improperly. In one event, the judge was not bound by the prosecutor’s concession. Therefore, the judge did not properly apply his mind to the case before him ”.
Kasema made headlines when he was arrested last year for criminal abuse of office positions after he allegedly consented to the release of a passport belonging to former Cabinet Minister Ignatius Chombo, who was facing multiple accusations of corruption.
He was arrested by officers of the Commercial Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigations Department and his file was in charge of the department of the Special Anti-Corruption Unit.
Abdul, Mupamhanga and Mutenda, who have been in custody for about four months, received bail of $ 5,000 each from Judge Chikowero, while Kanhanga was released on $ 2,000 bail.
As part of their bail conditions, they were ordered to reside at the addresses indicated and report to the police every Friday between 6:00 a.m.
When the alleged thieves appeared in Harare’s first instance courts in August on various charges of armed robbery, they were escorted by more than 10 policemen from the CID Homicide Unit.
They were not asked to plead guilty when they appeared before Mr. Richard Ramaboa, who placed them in pretrial detention and recommended to apply for bail in Superior Court.
Charges against the gang arose on July 24 when they pounced on 40 Longford Street in Queensdale, Harare, arriving in separate vehicles.
They removed prefabricated wall panels to gain entry and then, masked and armed with a shotgun and pistol, they forced open the door of the room with an iron bar and allegedly confronted the complainant’s brother-in-law who was sitting in the room.
He screamed for help and fled into the kitchen intending to escape through the back door where he was confronted by another burglar who was standing outside the house.
They mistreated him and tied his hands from behind with shoelaces. It is alleged that the gang went on to confront the complainant who had locked himself in the bedroom from the inside along with his wife and children.
The gang forced the door open with an iron bar and confronted the family before ordering the couple to lie on the floor while covering the wife with a blanket. They attacked the complainant demanding cash and valuables while looting the room.
They allegedly stole US $ 1,473 from the wife’s purse and five cell phones, wallets, glasses, power banks, face masks and valuables. The total value of the stolen goods was US $ 7,516.
In the second robbery, it is alleged that the next day, July 25, the gang, together with their nine co-defendants still at large, armed themselves with shotgun, pistol, hammer and iron bars and headed to the Trauma Room. Center at 1 Borrowdale Lane.
After breaking down doors and stealing phones and laptops, they finally tried and failed to open the safe.
Meanwhile, the owner and his wife had been summoned and came with security guards to rescue their staff.
The gang then fled, but was chased by the owner, hitting the back of the suspects’ car twice, which sank into a ditch at the corner of Borrowdale and Beach Roads before crashing into a pre-fabricated wall.
The defendants in the rammed car then fled on foot with their firearms while the others fled in another getaway car. A report was made at ZRP Borrowdale. The total value of the stolen items is US $ 3,465 and nothing was recovered.
