HARARE — Former Bikita West legislator and economist Dr Munyaradzi Kereke has died at Avenues Clinic in Harare, aged 58.
Kereke died on Tuesday morning after receiving treatment at the Harare hospital, according to information available to The Zimbabwe Financial Mail. Background information also records that he had suffered a stroke following his release from prison.
Kereke rose to prominence in Zimbabwe’s economic and financial circles as an adviser to former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Dr Gideon Gono.
He later entered politics and was elected ZANU PF Member of Parliament for Bikita West in the 2013 harmonised elections.
His political career was marked by controversy, including a dispute with ZANU PF that led to his expulsion from the party and a subsequent legal battle over his parliamentary seat.
Kereke’s public career was also overshadowed by his conviction for the rape of a minor.
In July 2016, the Harare Regional Court convicted him of rape and sentenced him to 14 years in prison, with four years suspended on condition of good behaviour, resulting in an effective 10-year sentence. The Supreme Court record confirms that the conviction was for rape and that his appeal against both conviction and sentence was subsequently dismissed by the High Court.
The case involved the rape of his minor niece in 2010. He had also faced an indecent-assault charge relating to another minor but was acquitted on that count.
In May 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed Kereke’s appeal against the conviction and sentence, ordering him to return to prison to complete the remaining portion of his sentence. The court found no basis to interfere with the lower courts’ findings.
Despite the controversy surrounding his later life, Kereke had earlier established himself as a prominent figure in Zimbabwe’s monetary and political affairs, particularly through his association with the Reserve Bank and his subsequent entry into Parliament.
His death brings to a close the career of a figure whose public life spanned Zimbabwe’s central banking, business and political spheres, but was ultimately defined by both his rise through those institutions and his subsequent criminal conviction.
Further details on his funeral arrangements were not immediately available.
