‘Baba Jukwa’ accuses police of buying time

By Tendai Kamhungira

HARARE – The Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudzayi has threatened to take legal action against the police whom he accuses of dragging their feet in investigating the Baba Jukwa saga.

In a letter addressed to commissioner-general of police Augustine Chihuri, Kudzayi demands to know the progress on the case.

Kudzayi was arrested last year following claims that he was linked to the shadowy Facebook character Baba Jukwa.

He is facing charges of attempting to subvert a constitutionally-elected government, banditry, insurgency and demeaning the office of the President and is jointly charged with his brother Phillip.

Through his lawyer Admire Rubaya, Kudzayi wrote a letter dated January 12, 2015, and copied to prosecutor-general Johannes Tomana, Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, among others.

“It is common cause that our client was arrested in June 2014, where the State claimed it had ample evidence and would be ready for trial by July of the same year. Seven months have since passed,” Rubaya said.

He said his client had made a number of applications for refusal of further remand which have been opposed by the State on the basis of “supposed extra-territorial investigations”.

He said little progress had been registered in the case, adding that the American justice department had acknowledged receipt of the investigations’ request and had promised to respond within 60 days.

“The period in which the response was promised has since lapsed. We wish to put it on record that we will be taking appropriate legal action if it later becomes apparent that the police were furnished with a response (perhaps unfavourable) but wilfully misled the court at our last court appearance by claiming otherwise,” he said.

Rubaya said that the State had made unsubstantiated claims that the investigating officer Crispen Makedenge had travelled to America to carry out investigations.

“We have reason to believe that he did not travel to America,” he said.

He added, “Our client maintains that he was arrested at the instigation of powerful individuals who were afraid he would expose them for their role on the Baba Jukwa syndicate after he began publishing details of Baba Jukwa’s private communications. He further maintains that this investigation is merely a charade to buy time.”

Rubaya said it was clear that the police did not carry out investigations before arresting his client. Daily News