First Lady Grace Mugabe’s son, Russell Goreraza, was today found guilty of killing a pedestrian a few months ago.
Rusell Goreraza, the son of Mrs. Mugabe and her first husband, former Air Force of Zimbabwe intelligence officer Wing Commander Stanley Goreraza, was arraigned before a Harare magistrate to face charges of culpable homicide.
Prosecutor Venencia Mutake told the court that on February 23 this year, Russell was driving his BMW vehicle registration number ACO 0266 along Samora Machel Avenue in Harare’s central business district when he knocked down an unidentified pedestrian who died on the spot.
The state attorney said the first lady’s 31 year-old son was over-speeding resulting in him failing to apply emergency brakes to avoid the accident.
Goreraza, who spent a night at Rhodesville Police Station, pleaded guilty to the charge and immediately apologized for causing the death of the un-identified pedestrian.
Magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe then ordered Goreraza to pay a fine of $800 or alternatively spend two months in jail. The magistrate said he was lenient on the accused person because he was never convicted before adding that he was the custodian of his minor child following his divorce with his wife.
After the magistrate gave his ruling, Goreraza rose again to apologize for the unidentified person’s death.
Coalition Against Corruption director Terry Mutsvanga the non-disclosure of the deceased person’s identity in court is suspicious.
Mutsvanga said this puts a dent on the first family’s image.
This is almost the first time in the history of culpable homicide cases in Zimbabwe that a deceased person under such road accidents has not been identified.
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba was not reachable for comment.
Russell Goreraza made headlines recently when he was allegedly refusing to pay workers at his Tolrose Gold Mine in Kadoma. He also made headlines for the wrong reasons when he was involved in several violent incidents at drinking joints.