Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) Sikhala hit with rape, theft charges

COMMENT - A lot of pro-MDC opionion in this piece. As far as I know, there was no 'sting' by Ari ben Menashe to 'set up' Morgan Tsvangirai, Morgan Tsvangirai pretty much set himself up, in that he should never have acquiesced in the suggestion of murdering President Mugabe. Also, considering that this is the MDC-99 faction of the MDC, other MDC factions should be looked at too.

Sikhala hit with rape, theft charges
12/05/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

MDC-99 leader and former St. Marys MP Job Sikhala has appeared in court charged with raping his personal assistant who also fell pregnant but later miscarried as well as stealing from her.

Sikhala, 40, has previously alleged a Central Intelligence Organisation plot to arrest and charge him with rape.

“The charges of rape being levelled against president Job Sikhala have no substance considering the fact that the woman swore in court that even though they shared the same room on one occasion, they did not engage in sex,” Sikhala claimed early this month.

“The ‘alien’ who by now should have been deported back to South Africa five months ago, is now being used by the CIO in circumstances reminiscent of the Ari Ben Menashe sting against Morgan Tsvangirai to achieve political ends.”

Sikhala was not asked to plead when he appeared before Harare magistrate Don Ndirowei on Friday. He was remanded out of custody on US$100 bail.

Prosecutors claim that Sikhala met the woman in South Africa last June while raising funds for his party and offered her a job as his personal assistant on a US$400 monthly salary in addition to 20 percent of all funds raised for his party.

The MDC-99 leader also promised to organise a work permit for her before helping her enter Zimbabwe illegally through Beitbridge on June 23.

The woman stayed at Sikhala’s St Marys home in Harare which he also shares with his two wives. Sometime in July, say prosecutors, the woman went out for a drink with Sikhala.

While returning from the pub, Sikhala allegedly put his hand on the woman’s leg and told her he had never slept with a white woman and wondered what it was like. He is said to have said some say explicit words and fondled the woman’s breasts while his other hand was inside her skirt but the woman managed to push him away.

A week, Sikhala allegedly ordered the woman to accompany him to a purported business meeting but, along the way, he drove to a city lodge where he led the woman into a room and stripped naked.

He ordered the woman to take off her clothes, reminding her that she was an illegal immigrant. The woman told him she did not like what he was doing but Sikhala proceeded to undress and rape her.
Sikhala raped the woman at the same lodge on another occasion and gave her US$5 afterwards, it is alleged.

Prosecutors claim Sikhala further raped the woman several times at his home, especially on Sundays when his two wives would have gone to church. She is said to have fallen pregnant but later miscarried.

The court heard that Sikhala, taking advantage of the fact that the woman had nowhere to stay and did not have any money, told her to leave his house if she did not want to sleep with him.

He also allegedly told her she would be locked up if she reported the rape since she was an illegal immigrant adding no action would be taken against him since he was a high profile politician.

The woman fled on December 20 and went to live with a friend where she was later arrested and jailed for contravening the country’s immigration laws. She later reported the alleged rape while serving her sentence.

Police also said a suitcase with the woman’s clothes said to be worth about R22,000 had gone missing at Sikhala’s house.

However his wives said she never stayed at the property.

Labels: JOB SIKHALA, MDC, MDC FACTIONS

posted by MrK @ 3:43 PM