Man claims pangolin was ‘present for the President’

surrender to President Mugabe.
Blackmore Mutandadzi (58) appeared before Mbare magistrate Mr Arnold Maburo last Friday facing charges of possessing a special and protected animal.
He pleaded guilty to the charges and in mitigation, said he wanted to surrender the pangolin to the Head of State and Government. Mr Maburo cautioned and discharged Mutandadzi and the pangolin was handed over to Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Presenting the State’s case, the public prosecutor Mr Michael Chakandida, told the court that on March 29 Glenview police received a tip off from someone that Mutandadzi was keeping a pangolin at his Budiriro home. A police officer proceeded to Mutandadzi’s home and conducted a search and found the animal. Asked why he was keeping such a valuable animal in his house, Mutandadzi told the court that he found it at More Farm in his rural home in Nyabira while he was harvesting his maize.
“I meant no harm to the sacred animal but I brought it here to Harare because I wanted to consult my brothers on the procedures to be followed to get access to His Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe. I wanted to honour him personally as he is a deserving leader of the nation. If what I did was not in line with the law, Your Worship may I be punished for it,” he said.