HARARE – Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) legislator for Sunningdale, Maureen Kademaunga has been released after her attempted murder charges were dropped for lack of evidence.
Kademaunga, 38, was arrested Tuesday together with Harare Ward 10 councillor Clayd Mashozhera, 49.
She spent the night in police custody.
The lawmaker was charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of malicious damage to property.
The charges arose from police claims that she took part in the burning of a car belonging to a Zanu PF rival candidate on 23 August, the day of Zimbabwe’s harmonised elections.
The politician was taken to the Harare magistrates’ court on Wednesday and her charges were quashed after the State conceded to the submissions by the defence lawyers that there was no solid evidence linking the MP to the commission of the offence.
Addressing the media soon after emerging from the court building with his client, human rights lawyer Harrison Nkomo confirmed Kademaunga’s charges have been dropped.
“We have been here since morning and the prosecutor general has looked at the papers and come to the conclusion that there is no iota of evidence linking Kademaunga to the alleged crime and to that end, she has been released,” Nkomo said.
According to a Tuesday statement by police national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, “the suspects are implicated in the attack on three complainants which occurred at the corner of Boshoff Drive and Seke Road near Metro Peech in Harare on August 23, 2023”.
Nyathi said, “a Toyota Spacio Vehicle was burnt to ashes during the attack,” adding, “the suspects were allegedly using a Toyota Mark X vehicle which belongs to Maureen Kademaunga, a Silver Honda Fit and another vehicle which is yet to be identified when they blocked the complainants and attacked them.”
Commenting on the MP’s arrest, CCC spokesperson Promise Mkwananzi said Tuesday the charges were “flimsy and cooked up”.
