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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
TWO men who were arrested at Plumtree Border Post while driving a vehicle which was carrying gold have been acquitted after the court failed to find incriminating evidence against them.
Francis Maranjesi, 47, and Nathan Mnaba, 29, were being accused of smuggling eight kilogrammes of gold worth more than $300,000 out of the country through the port of entry.
They had filed an application for discharge at the close of State case through their legal counsel Nelson Mashizha of Sachikonye Ushe Legal Practitioners.
In response to the application Plumtree magistrate Livard Philemon said evidence by the three State witnesses lacked credibility as it was inconsistent.
He said the witnesses had further gone to accuse one another of lying before the court, thereby compromising their evidence.
Maranjesi and Mnaba were each facing two counts of unlawful possession of gold and smuggling.
Philemon said: “The State has failed to present incriminating evidence at this point. Accused One has denied knowledge of the gold which was in the car which he was driving. The State has failed to prove that indeed the accused had knowledge of the gold or made indications on the location of the gold.
“The State has been relying on the statements from the three witnesses but these statements have been inconsistent.
“Their statements are conflicting as they failed to agree on a number of aspects for example the number of exhibits and location of a bag which was in the car. This makes the credibility of their evidence questionable,’’ he said.
The State witnesses who are police detectives from the minerals and border control unit had alleged that on the day in question Maranjesi had willingly made indications on the location of the gold upon his arrest.
They also alleged that Maranjesi pointed out that the gold belonged to Mnaba.
Philemon said the State had failed to prove that Mnaba who is a manager at Danny Mining Claim in Kadoma was in unlawful possession of gold.
“The State has been relying on the evidence by the three witnesses to back its case. This is the same evidence which is unreliable, therefore I discharge both accused persons at the close of the State case. I’ve not found them guilty on both counts,’’ said Philemon.
Mashizha went on to apply for the disposal of gold in question after stating that Mnaba had intentions to convey it to Fidelity Printers.
The application will be deliberated on January 12.
Prosecutors had alleged that detectives intercepted Maranjesi, an operations assistant at Danny Mining Claim in Kadoma, at the Plumtree Border Post while on his way to Botswana in possession of 8,06kg of gold valued at $304,545 which was hidden in a fuel tank.
He reportedly implicated Mnaba – a manager at the mining company – after stating that the gold belonged to him.
Mnaba in his defence indicated that he was the one who stored the gold in the fuel tank but alleged that he had done so in order to take it to Fidelity Printers Private Limited.
In his defence Maranjesi told the court that he was not aware that the car he was travelling in had some gold hidden in its fuel tank.
Online Reporter