Kereke's bid for freedom hits a brick wall

A bid by jailed former Bikita West legislator Munyaradzi Kereke to taste freedom pending the determination of his appeal against sentence and conviction has hit a brick wall after the High Court dismissed his application.

Justice Happious Zhou has dismissed Kereke's application for bail pending appeal after finding that admitting him to bail would undermine the interests of justice.

Justice Zhou said it would be an improper exercise of the court's discretion to ignore the ruling of Magistrates Court.

He added that after weighing the critical factors considered during bail proceedings which include the seriousness of the offence, the lengthy jail term and the fact that the applicant had already tasted the rigours of prison life and he was of the view that Kereke is likely to flee from the court's jurisdiction if granted bail.

The judge earlier seemed to lean in Kereke's favour when he found that the evidence of the complainant was riddled with inconsistencies such as conflict in the time during which the alleged rape was committed and the fact that the rape allegedly occurred while there were several people in the house.

But he found that the learned magistrate who presided over the rape trial had looked at the totality of the evidence and considered the inconsistencies to be expected given that the victim was a minor.

He ruled that bail is not a right and that the applicant failed to satisfy the court with positive grounds for granting bail and having weighed the balance between the interests of justice and Kereke's liberty, the court found that admitting applicant to bail would endanger justice.

Mr Francis Maramwidze the victims grandfather who successfully caused Kereke to be prosecuted privately after suspended Prosecutor General Johannes Tomana had declined to prosecute was ecstatic at the court's ruling.

However, he said following Kereke's attempt to seek bail he is now going to push for a review of the sentence given to Kereke as he felt that given that a fire arm had been used during the commission of the offence a lengthier jail term would meet justice.

Kereke's is currently serving an effective 10 year jail term after he was initially slapped with 14 years, four of which were suspended on the usual conditions.