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Leonard Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
A DETECTIVE stationed at the CID Law and Order section in Bulawayo who was arrested in Victoria Falls while attempting to smuggle firearms into Zambia, was yesterday fined $400.
Detective Sergeant Givemore Nkomo (37) of Old Pumula suburb pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a firearm without a permit. Victoria Falls resident magistrate Ms Lindiwe Maphosa fined Det Sgt Nkomo $400. He will be jailed for three months if he fails to pay the fine by March 31.
Det Sgt Nkomo, who was off duty when he was arrested, told the court that he never benefited from the firearms as he was only sent to deliver them in Zambia.
Prosecuting, Mr Takunda Ndovorwi said Det Sgt Nkomo was intercepted by a security guard at the Victoria Falls Border Post with two firearms. “On 18 March at 5PM, the accused arrived at Victoria Falls carrying a Mauser 7.9mm rifle Serial Number 9629 wrapped in a blanket. He approached Miss Winfrider Ncube, a security guard and asked to be directed to the police so he could clear his firearms,” he said.
Mr Ndovorwi said the second gun was a Taurus revolver serial Number 1352994 which was in its casing and the permit number was 160564.
He said a cop stationed at the Border Control and Minerals Unit checked the guns and discovered that they both had a valid temporary permit number 1605663 registered in the name of Mr David Foster Johnstone Butcher of Suburbs in Bulawayo.
Mr Butcher is a former magistrate now based in the United Kingdom.
The permits were issued on December 28 in 2016 and were set to expire on March 29 this year.
Det Sgt Nkomo was immediately arrested because he didn’t have a permit to be in possession of the weapons.
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