Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku, [email protected]
FOUR former detectives who were attached to the Bulawayo Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Homicide Section have been acquitted of criminal abuse of office and theft after a court ruled that the State had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Wellington Mbofana, Kuziwa Zambuko, Fakazi Swati and Clemence Mbofana were acquitted by Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mr Mathew Mutiro at the close of the State case last Tuesday.
The four had been on trial facing allegations of criminal abuse of office and theft arising from an investigation involving alleged stolen gold ore.
In delivering his ruling, Mr Mutiro said the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence linking the accused persons to the offences.
“The State failed to prove that the four accused persons committed the crime. There is insufficient evidence; therefore, they are not found guilty and they are acquitted,” said Mr Mutiro.
The accused were represented by Mr Tawanda Tavengwa of Mvundla Tavengwa Solicitors.
Prosecutor Ms Nomthandazo Mafu had told the court that on October 7 last year, the four detectives received a call from artisanal miner Lista Chipuriro of Nugget Mine in Matopos, seeking assistance to recover gold ore allegedly stolen by Petros Daki.
“The accused persons, led by accused two, accepted the request knowing that Nugget Mine lies under the jurisdiction of ZRP Matopos and CID Minerals Fauna and Flora Unit in Plumtree, and with the knowledge that Lista Chipuriro had engaged them to carry out unsanctioned investigations,” Ms Mafu told the court.
The State alleged that the detectives subsequently used a police vehicle to intercept Daki, who was travelling in a Toyota Bubble driven by Shepherd Nyoni, near Cecil Hotel at the corner of Third Avenue and Fife Street in Bulawayo.
According to court papers, three of the accused then took Daki, Nyoni and Costa Mathe to a house in Pumula South, where they allegedly recovered US$23 700 from Daki’s mother, Mrs Thenjiwe Dube.
The court further heard allegations that the detectives later returned to the CID Homicide offices where Zambuko allegedly handed Daki US$7 800 from the recovered money.
“The accused persons, well knowing that they were not conducting official investigations, unlawfully and intentionally confiscated the US$15,900 from the complainant and converted it to their own use, thus acting contrary to or inconsistent with their duties as public officers, with the intention of conferring an undue benefit to themselves and prejudice to the State,” the prosecution alleged.
The State also alleged that the quartet impounded a vehicle belonging to Daki, which had allegedly been purchased using proceeds from the sale of some of the disputed gold ore and nuggets to a dealer in Luveve.
However, after considering the evidence presented by the prosecution, Mr Mutiro ruled that the State had failed to establish a prima facie case against the four accused persons, resulting in their acquittal.
