RG office quartet jailed

following their conviction of stealing over 12 000 Emergency Travel Documents worth more than US$600 000.

It is the state’s case that sometime in 2009, David Chananda (39), Spiwe Mukombe (38), Rudo Mhlophe (28) and Vimbai Gwagwa (31) had responsibilities of collecting stationary from the Harare Central Registry offices and they managed to steal 12 007 ETDs valued at US$600 350.
At the time, their duties included keeping safe keys on a rotational basis as well as issuing stationary to different sections in the department.

The quartet had pleaded not guilty to theft and abuse of office charges when it appeared before Gweru magistrate Ms Phathekile Msipa.
Ms Msipa suspended 2 years of the sentence on condition of good behaviour and a further 2 years were suspended on condition they restitute the Home Affairs ministry US$150 000 each before or on December 31 in 2015.

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State prosecutor Mr Bornwell Balamanje proved that on August 26 in 2009, immigration officials at Plumtree Border Post arrested Wonderful Mupambi for possessing a suspicious ETD with serial number 0115298.
Investigations the document emanated from the Gweru offices and inspection noted there were no breakings into the storeroom and the safe.
An audit report dated to January of the same year showed that Mukombe who was head of accounts signed for 4000 ETDs with serial numbers between 0113001 and 0117000 from Harare.

It was discovered that 2500 ETDs were missing from the batch Mukombe signed for and kept in the storeroom. On January 22 in 2009, Agnes Gambura, the Provincial Registrar signed for 4 000 ETDs from Harare before they were recorded and issued to Mhlophe five days later.

In the internal audit it was revealed 1007 ETDs handed to Mhlophe went missing and could not be accounted for. Chananda also signed for 8500 ETDs on April 28, 2009 from Harare and they were all found missing from the Gweru Provincial Registry during the audit.
This led to the arrest of the four and during investigations, police recovered some ETDs from people which were part of the missing documents.
They stole 12 007 ETDs valued at US$600 350 and a few were recovered.