By Court Reporter
Harare East lawmaker and Constitutional lawyer Tendai Biti’s assault trial took a dramatic turn as the defence lawyer accused a witness of lying to the court about his identity and employment.
The witness, who identified himself as Givemore Kasekete, had taken the stand to testify against Biti.
During the cross-examination, defence lawyer Alec Muchadehama accused Kasekete of using a false name and lying about his job.
“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.
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.
Kasekete denied these accusations, stating that he was unemployed and had only worked as a temporary teacher in his whole life.
Muchadehama further alleged that Kasekete had been tailing Biti as he was a political opponent of the ruling party.
Kasekete denied these allegations, stating that he had lost all his identification documents, including his birth certificate, and could not afford to apply for new ones.
He also claimed that the phone numbers he had provided to the police and court belonged to his wife.
During his testimony, Kasekete had alleged that he saw Biti verbally assaulting Aleshina outside the Harare Magistrates court on the day of the alleged assault.
However, Muchadehama disputed Kasekete’s testimony, claiming that Biti had reported seeing Kasekete at the court during all his appearances.
Trial continues on May 16 with Kasekete still on the witness stand.
