Ex-govt top official acquitted in drug possession case

Court Reporter

Former Principal Accountant in the Finance Ministry, Tonderai Musekiwa, who was arrested in May 2023 on allegations of being found in possession of 18 grammes of cocaine and 134 grammes of ecstasy tablets with a combined value of $2,700,000, has been acquitted of the charges.

The drugs were alleged to have been found in a blue Mini Cooper vehicle belonging to Musekiwa’s son, who was 20 years old at the time, along Leopold Takawira Street in Harare.

During the trial, Musekiwa pleaded not guilty to the allegations. In his defence, Musekiwa argued that the drugs were in the possession of the officers who arrested him, Detectives Constables Nicolas Masengwe and another officer identified as Changaira, who has since relocated to Canada.

The detectives had only brought one count of cocaine before the court.

In his ruling, Harare Regional Magistrate Mr Taurai Manwere said: “From the foregoing, I am convinced that the State did not manage to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused person unlawfully possessed nineteen sachets of cocaine weighing 18.182 grams.”

“He is not the owner of the said motor vehicle. The motor vehicle is his child’s, and he is the sole driver of the motor vehicle. Moreover, the fuel cap from which the cocaine was recovered was closed but not locked.”

“In the circumstances, anyone, including the informer, had access to the unlocked fuel cap.”

“In the circumstances, the accused’s defence that he never dealt or possessed 19 sachets of cocaine is reasonable and possibly true, as there is a high and real possibility that the cocaine was planted in the fuel cap by someone else, including the informer, since the fuel cap was closed but not locked.”

“Clearly, therefore, from the foregoing, it cannot be said that the State managed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused unlawfully possessed nineteen sachets of cocaine weighing 18.182 grams. Resultantly, I hereby find the accused not guilty of one count of dealing in dangerous drugs,” said the Magistrate.