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A RUSAPE woman (54) wept in court last week pleading with the magistrate for leniency after she was found guilty of possessing 35kg of mbanje.
However, her weeping could not save her from getting an effective five-year jail term.
Magiie Jumbe of Vengere, Rusape ran out of luck when the kombi on which she was travelling was stopped at a stop and search roadblock at Nyanyadzi. The mbanje was discovered in the kombi trailer.
‘’Your Worship, I am a widow with two minors who still need my care. I do not smoke mbanje, so please don’t jail me. I sustain a living by selling mbanje. I managed to raise this 30kg of mbanje by exchanging them with clothes in Mozambique,’’ she said.
The accused appeared before Chipinge magistrate Mr Noah Gwatidzo facing charges of unlawfully possession of dangerous drugs. She pleaded guilty to the charges.
The court heard that on June 22, at around 9am, Jumbe boarded a Living Legend omnibus which was travelling to Mutare from Chipinge. She had three big red bags which she loaded in the trailer.
At Nyanyadzi, the omnibus was stopped by police who were manning a roadblock.
The three police officers ordered all passengers to disembark and stand next to their luggage.
They found out that the mbanje belonged to Jumbe. This led to her arrest.
In sentencing her, Mr Gwatidzo said possession of mbanje was prevalent along the eastern border hence a custodial sentence of offenders was necessary.
“Usually the courts do not send female offenders to jail, but it has been aggravated by the fact that the weight of the mbanje is too much. There is no doubt that it was for commercial purposes. A non-custodial sentence is not an option since it tends to encourage offenders,’’he said.
Jumbe was sentenced to an effective five-year jail term.
Online Reporter