Prosecutor who pursued minister arrested on flimsy charges

By Lance Guma
20 April 2007

Police in Mutare have arrested prosecutor Levison Chikafu who led a case against a senior government official last year. Chikafu hit the headlines after he charged that Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa had attempted to defeat the course of justice by putting pressure on a key witness in a trial against State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa. He also sought the arraignment of a CIO agent Joseph Mwale, who is accused of murdering two opposition officials, Talent Mabika and Tichaona Chiminya, in the run up to the 2000 parliamentary election.

In a dramatic turn of events Chinamasa is now accused of leading a campaign of revenge and allegedly engineered a set of charges to put Chikafu in the dock. On Thursday Chikafu in the company of his lawyer handed himself over to Mutare Central police station after being told the police were looking for him. He was detained for a total of 6 hours in what his lawyer Chris Ndlovu described as clear victimisation. Police are said to have quizzed him over allegations that he received money from a jailed murderer and consented to the granting of bail to undeserving suspects. The alleged crimes were committed when Chikafu was an area prosecutor in Manicaland.

According to his lawyer he was released around mid-day before police came to his flat 5 hours later and arrested him. Ndlovu says they raised objections with the Attorney Generals office over the conduct of the police but received no response. He said they had struck an agreement with the police in consultation with the Attorney Generals office for Chikafu to be released and in the meantime the police were to investigate the case. Chikafu would then have been required to attend any hearings or interrogations by way of summons. Ndlovu said the police turned around and simply detained his client without reasonable cause.

Chikafu was still in police custody by the time Newsreel went on air on Friday. His lawyer said it was now likely he will spend the weekend in jail and appear in court on Monday. Several prosecutors avoided Chinamasa’s case on the grounds he was effectively their boss in the Justice Ministry. Chikafu however bravely took up the case and this is why many feel Chinamasa, who heads the justice ministry, is hitting back. Chikafu was transferred from his job towards the end of last year and is said to have enrolled as a student at the Zimbabwe Military Academy, a profession far removed from his legal career.