Harare Magistrate Dismisses Glenview South Lawmaker and 39 CCC Activists’ Bid for Refusal of Further Remand
Glenview South lawmaker Grandmore Hakata, along with 39 other activists from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), faced a setback in court as their application for refusal of further remand was dismissed by a Harare magistrate. The dismissal came on grounds of lack of merit.
The group of 40 individuals, including Hakata, had been jointly charged for holding an unsanctioned rally. They missed Election Day in August of the previous year after being detained for the offense and subsequently spending over a month in jail.
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Represented by their legal counsel, Kudzai Kadzere, the activists lodged an application before Harare magistrate Aplonia Marutya, arguing that they should be released due to a perceived lack of progress in their case. However, their plea was unsuccessful.
According to reports, the prosecution said they would give a date for the trial on Tuesday, but then they asked for more time instead.
“We apply that the accused be removed from remand.
“They have been attending court since last year and it has a very significant financial cost.
Representing the State, Thomas Chanakira explained that investigations were nearly finished.
“There is no good reason why the state has failed to give a trial date,” Kadzere said.
“There are reasonable factors to this delay. We have the docket.
“It was only assigned to a different prosecutor, Zebediah Bofu. There are two outcomes; either we go for trial or the accused can be removed from remand,” he said.
Hakata and his suspected partners were arrested in August last year while conducting what the police deemed an illegal electoral campaign road show at Machipisa shopping center in Highfield, Harare.
