The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has applied to the High Court challenging the cancellation of a warrant of arrest for businessman Frank Sadiq Buyanga by Harare provincial magistrate, Judith Taruvinga.
Taruvinga on Monday last week rescinded her ruling because a low-ranking police officer, Sergeant Lilybirth Ndlovu, erroneously applied for the warrant of arrest.
Buyanga’s lawyer Admire Rubaya told the court that the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act stipulates that a police officer applying for an arrest warrant should be at least at the rank of inspector or an assistant inspector in charge of a police station.
But Prosecutor-General Nelson Mutsonziwa wants the High Court to set aside Taruvinga’s judgment, arguing that the warrant was cancelled without following due process.
Mutsonziwa cited Taruvinga and Buyanga as the first and second respondents, respectively. He submitted:
The court presided over a matter in which it lacked jurisdiction to cancel a warrant of arrest after it had been executed by law enforcement authorities of the Republic of South Africa under an extradition request made to it by the Republic of Zimbabwe.
There was a gross irregularity in the proceedings or the decision of the court in that the court perpetuated contempt of court by the second respondent by granting his legal practitioner audience in circumstances where the High Court, Supreme Court and Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe, respectively found him to have dirty hands and consequently denied him an audience.
The matter will be heard this Monday at the High Court before Justice Pisirayi Kwenda.
Buyanga was arrested in South Africa on 10 November 2022, on charges of child trafficking, immigration violations, forgery, and contempt of court.
His arrests emanated from a protracted child custody dispute with his ex-girlfriend Chantelle Muteswa.
There are two other warrants of arrest against Buyanga — one issued by High Court judge Justice David Mangota and the other by Justice Jacob Manzunzu.
Buyanga recently claimed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his family are involved in his legal woes.
He said that his former girlfriend is being used by Mnangagwa and his family to get to him. | NewsDay