The High Court has ordered the immediate release of Washington Kangarade and quashed the criminal proceedings against him following the loss of court records in his 2013 case.
The ruling was delivered by Justice Samuel Deme in a composite application for condonation and review, in which Kangarade challenged the issuance of a warrant of arrest and a nine-year imprisonment sentence handed down by the Harare Provincial Magistrates’ Court.
The applicant had been convicted under the Parks and Wildlife Act in 2013 and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Kangarade argued that the warrant of arrest, issued in 2024, was irregular and that the magistrate had acted without jurisdiction. He contended that there was no evidence showing that he had failed to prosecute his appeal or pay the costs for the preparation of the appeal record.
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The court noted that attempts to reconstruct or retrieve the record of the original proceedings had failed. Representatives of the Registrar and the Clerk of Court confirmed that the records were no longer in their possession, making it impossible for Kangarade to pursue his appeal.
Justice Deme held that the absence of the record adversely affected Kangarade’s right to a fair trial. Drawing on local and regional jurisprudence, the court emphasised that when a record is lost or destroyed, a fresh trial may be warranted at the discretion of the Prosecutor General, rather than ordering an automatic acquittal.
The court’s final order granted condonation for the late filing of the review application, set aside the warrant of arrest, and quashed the proceedings in State v Washington Kangarade (CRB 1147/13). A trial de novo may be conducted at the discretion of the Prosecutor General, and any sentence imposed in a new trial must take into account the time Kangarade has already spent in prison.
Kangarade was represented by Advocate T.L. Mapuranga, while the National Prosecuting Authority appeared for the respondents.
The judgment underscores the critical importance of proper record-keeping in the justice system and highlights the consequences when records are lost or cannot be reconstructed.
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