Staff Reporter
Law practitioners have lambasted Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) interim co-vice president, Tendai Biti’s Law Firm, calling it a disgrace as they bemoaned the high levels of corruption obtaining at that law firm.
Biti, who already has a case before the courts on allegations of assaulting Ms Tatiana Aleshina of West Properties (Private) Limited, has also been implicated in interfering with witnesses in a matter pending before the courts via use of inflammatory messages on WhatsApp.
A letter from Ms Aleshina’s lawyer, Scanlen and Holderness, addressed to the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ), alleged that Biti’s actions were in breach of Section 20 of the schedule of the Legal Practitioners Code of Conduct that forbids engaging in conduct that is likely either to reduce public confidence in the legal profession or the administration of justice.
“Our instructions are that our client is a complainant in the above matter in which Mr Biti is charged with assault,” said the law firm.
According to the law firm, Biti circulated messages on social media in which he invited CCC supporters to besiege the court in which his case will be heard.
“The message is inflammatory and inspires in her fear and dread. As legal practitioner, Mr Biti is now intimidating her and making aspirations that she is involved in trying to harm him personally which she finds disturbing and unbecoming of him,” the law firm said.
In another court case, Biti’s legal clerk, Constantine Chaza also appeared before Harare Magistrate Mrs Munashe Chibanda on charges of fraud and perjury.
State witness, Mr Tendai Mashamhanda alleged that he witnessed that Chaza had submitted several fake affidavits and documents including a Special power of Attorney which was manufactured as it did not bear a notarial stamp. He also stated that the signature on the Special Power Attorney was not that of Mr Elliot Rogers.
“On the Special Power of Attorney, there was no notarial stamp and for it to be a valid power of attorney it should have the notarial stamp in terms of the international standards,” he said.
A source at the Law Society of Zimbabwe said Tendai Biti Law Firm was a disgrace to law practice in general. He implored Tendai Biti Law Firm to maintain sanity and not to carry over CCC party rot to the law firm.
