MUNYARADZI Kereke’s legal woes deepened on Friday after his driver appeared in court charged over a forged medical report he gave to prosecutors in a bid to prove an assault charge against two Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe security guards.

The Harare Magistrates’ Court heard testimony from Liberty Gono, who prosecuted RBZ security guards Phillip Dendere, 47, and George Nyahuye, 36, for an alleged brutal attack on Priviledge Maturure on March 12.

Dendere and Nyahuye were acquitted in two separate trials – one for assault and a second for disorderly conduct – after magistrates ruled the charges were based on a forged medical report and unreliable witnesses.

Prosecutor Gono told magistrate Tayengwa Chibanda how he was approached by Maturure – a personal chauffer to Kereke, the erstwhile adviser to RBZ governor Gideon Gono – with the forged document outlining his purported injuries.

Maturure had arrived for their meeting in a wheelchair – which the first trial magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini has already ruled was a make-believe stunt designed to mislead the court.

The court also heard from Jacob Chiweshe, a former nurse at Parirenyatwa Hospital who has already admitted faking a doctor’s signature on the phony medical report.

Chiweshe – who was given a suspended seven-month sentence and ordered to do 320 hours of community service for his role in the fraud – told how he was approached by Maturure and Dube at Mombeyarara Bar in Mabvuku.

“Maturure and Dube presented me with a written-up medical affidavit and asked me to sign it as a doctor. They promised to pay me US$2,000,” Chiweshe told the court.

Magistrate Chibanda asked defence lawyers and prosecutor Ressie Nyangombe to make written submissions before adjourning the trial to July 5.