Lawyer representing Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislator Tendai Biti, Alec Muchadehama has labelled one of the state witnesses ‘Givemore Kaseke’ as a ghost after he failed to prove his identity during a cross examination.
‘Kaseke’ was testifying against Biti who is facing charges of assaulting a Russian investor Tatiana Aleshina.
Biti’s lawyer Alec Muchadehama told the court that ‘Kaseke’ was an army intelligence informant on a mission to tail Biti because of his political career.
He further demanded to see Kaseke’s identity card or passport to confirm his name but he told the court that he had lost all his documents and did not have money to have them replaced.
Muchadehama told ‘Kaseke’ that his real name was More Tirivashoma and that he was in the army as a military intelligence officer.
“Witness you are lying to the court, your real name is More Tirivashoma. You went to Harare poly in 2010 and studied Journalism. You are in army and you are in the military intelligence, you work in MID office along Robert Mugabe,” said Muchadehama.
‘Kaseke’ responded that he has never worked, does not have a job and was only employed as a temporary teacher once in his whole life.
However, he stammered when Muchadehama requested his proof of identity which matches the name he submitted to the court.
“You do not have a birth certificate and any form of identity document. You are actually at work and you are trying to tail Biti because he is a political opponent of the ruling party that is why you mushroomed from nowhere and rushed to give the complainant your number and offered to testify in court in your favor,” said Muchadehama.
Kaseke responded by claiming that he lost all his identity documents including his birth certificate and he does not have money to re-apply for them.
He also told the court that the phone numbers he gave to the police and court belonged to his wife.
This was after Muchadehama had questioned him why the name ‘Givemore Kaseke was not appearing on his phone number’s Ecocash account.
Kaseke was in court to testify against Biti in his assault case.
In his testimony, Kaseke told the court that on the day of the alleged crime, he was at the Harare Magistrates court accompanying his friend who had come for some other business.
He told the court that it was that time that he saw Biti coming outside the court and ‘ verbally assaulting’ Aleshina.
However, Muchadehama told the court that his client reported always seeing Kaseke at the court at all his appearances.
“The accused person says he always see you at court during his matters’ proceedings and you are always there to follow him. It was not a coincidence that you were at court on that day.
“You are also lying to the court because you are on a mission and you are testifying what you have been told to say,” said Muchadehama.
Kaseke had earlier told the court that his statement was recorded at Harare Central police station at around 1600 hours yet the papers were recorded at Police General Headquarters at around 0900 hours.
The matter was postponed to 16 May 2023 for continuation of trial.
Magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti-Guwuriro is presiding over the matter.
