Outspoken Norton Member of Parliament, Temba Mliswa has come to the defence of former cabinet minister and now opposition member, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti who is being accused of allegedly abusing a 12-year-old girl at an orphanage that he ran in Mwenezi.
Bhasikiti appeared before Mwenezi magistrate Faina Makumbe and was not asked to plead. He was remanded in custody until 29 December. He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
However, Mliswa pinned the allegations on politicking saying Bhasikiti was a victim of revenge from his political rivals.
“Bhasikiti’s case isn’t new in politics. It’s the same script from of old. Allegations of rape, corruption etc as a pathway to the political death of a victim. Very unfortunate that we have such severe cases being used to advance political vendetta,” Mliswa noted.
He said Bhasikiti infamously fell off the wagon after siding with a rival faction which opposed President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ascension to power. He sided with the then President, Robert Mugabe before he defaulted to MDC Alliance in the 2018 elections.
“At one point Bhasikiti was a vital member of the (ZANU-PF party. The differences his faction and the ruling clique had, were simply a matter of internal democracy and attendant frictions. Shouldn’t have been anything fatal or dire.
“I have always advocated for reconciliation among the different players as the best way forward. Bhasikiti, like Dzikamai Mavhaire, joined the opposition after an internal fallout but he had always been a strong member of ZANU-PF. He was an upstanding member,” Mliswa added.
Bhasikiti served as Minister of State from 2013 until his expulsion from Government and ZANU PF in December 2014.
Allegations were that sometime in 2019, Bhasikiti went into a room at an orphanage that he ran at his farm in Mwenezi. He allegedly approached the complainant and gagged her mouth with one of his hands.
Bhasikiti then allegedly forcibly removed her clothes before proceeding to rape her once and threatened unspecified action if she told anyone. Police at Mwenezi police station arrested Bhasikiti after they received a tip-off about the alleged rape sometime this year.
