HARARE magistrate Ayanda Ndlamini yesterday acquitted former mayor Muchadeyi Masunda after indicating that the State’s case lacked evidence and proceeding to defence would waste resources as well as time.
In her judgment, Ndlamini ruled that the State had no tangible evidence to prove that, indeed, the complainant was indecently assaulted as alleged.
She further indicated that the testimony from the witnesses showed some bias considering that she was the one who went to Masunda’s work place and after being allegedly assaulted, she further stayed for more than two hours .
Ndlamini ruled that the State failed to prove that Masunda had sexual intentions when he approached the complainant intending to take his office keys. Masunda was being represented by Tecla Mapota during trial.
The complainant is Ropafadzo Sibusiso Chidawu (34), the daughter of the late Harare Metropolitan Affairs minister Oliver Chidawu, who is a beneficiary in the Oliver Mandishona Chidawu Trust.
Allegations were that on August 4, 2023, Chidawu went to Masunda’s workplace in Milton Park, Harare, to discuss some issues concerning the Oliver Mandishona Chidawu Trust and upon entering the office Masunda, expressed unwillingness to entertain her.
Chidawu had alleged that the accused wrestled her and she elbowed him.
She said on realising that she was being attacked, she realised that she needed to get her cellphone so that she could record what was happening.
- Ex-mayor Masunda acquitted in indecent assault case
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She claimed that she bent over and the accused grabbed her again, adding that she freed herself by using her left elbow to hit the accused.
In the second assault, Chidawu alleged that Masunda charged towards her and grabbed her by the waist.
She said she removed the keys from the door to the accused office, locked herself inside his office and put the keys in her dress, sat down and recorded the “meeting”.
After about two and half hours, she gave the accused back his office keys and left his office.
The State was alleging that Chidawu proceeded to her subordinate Truword Kapamara’s office and narrated the incident to him.
In applying for discharge, Masunda’s lawyers Gwaunza and Mapota said the complainant had testified that she had sent a text message thanking the accused for the “meeting”.
“It is submitted that this behaviour is highly inconsistent with someone who had been indecently assaulted and was traumatised by the experience. One cannot thank their assailant after having been indecently assaulted,” the lawyers wrote in the application.
They said Chidawu had stated that she had reported the matter to the police on August 23, 2023, but when it was put to her under cross-examination that she made the report on November 23, 2023, she prevaricated saying she could no longer remember the dates.
“However, she did not deny that the police report was made in November 2023. This is inconsistent with her handwritten statement to the police, which is dated 23 November 2023.
Already, Chidawu had lost four of the six cases she had reported against Masunda, before this latest one.
After his acquittal, Masunda said: “I don’t bear any ill-will towards Miss Ropafadzo Sibusiso Chidawu in spite of what she has done. I will continue working with Ngoni Kudenga in our joint endeavour, as co-trustees, to discharge our fiduciary duties in respect of the Oliver Mandishona Chidawu [OMC] Trust for and on behalf of the designated beneficiaries, especially OMC’s widow, Mrs S’piwe Chidawu (née Shemunyoro) and their two surviving daughters — Dadirai Martha Chidawu and Ropafadzo Sibusiso Chidawu.
“It should be noted that Mr Kudenga and I do not have any personal, financial or pecuniary interests in the OMC Trust and any of the companies that are beneficially owned and controlled by the said trust. We are simply acting pro amico [for a friend] as co-founders, with the late Douglas Tawanda Munatsi and OMC, of what is now the BancABC Group in the financial services sectors within the Sadc region.”
He said the acquittal marked “the end of this harrowing and unheard of saga since January 1974 (just over 50 years ago) when I began my involvement in various facets of the legal profession”.
