Online Reporter
Zvikomborero Parafini
TWO dealers from Chirundu Border Post and a ZIMRA Bonds Revenue Officer have been arrested for allegedly smuggling about 30 tonnes of clothing into Zimbabwe.
Basil Tawanda Gayihayi (36), Takudzwa Hamilton Nyikadzino (24) and Emmanuel Munyaradzi Charimari (36) appeared at the Kariba Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
The trio was granted US$200 bail each and ordered to stay at their given addresses and to report once a week at the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission offices.
According to the State, on July 14, Gayihayi, acting in connivance with another person who is still at large, facilitated the importation of 140 bales of clothing from Tanzania through Chirundu Border Post.
They allegedly used a Scania truck registered MV68MFGP towing trailer XCM614GP.
Prosecutors allege that after the consignment was cleared on the Zambian side, Gayihayi and his accomplice prepared forged clearing documents.
They falsely declared that the truck was transporting 50 drums of honey weighing 22,000 kilogrammes and was destined for South Africa.
It is alleged that Gayihayi then instructed Nyikadzino to present the forged documents to ZIMRA officials at Chirundu Border Post, misrepresenting the truck’s cargo when it was allegedly carrying clothing destined for Harare.
The State alleges the forged documents were used to facilitate the clearance of the truck, enabling 140 bales of clothing, weighing about thirty tonnes, to enter Zimbabwe without payment of customs duty.
ZACC investigators later intercepted the truck in the Chitungwiza Industrial Area, where the consignment was recovered.
The value of the customs duty allegedly prejudiced to ZIMRA is yet to be ascertained.
Charimari, who is employed as a ZIMRA Bonds Revenue Officer stationed at the Chirundu Southbound gate, faces a separate charge of criminal abuse of duty.
The prosecution alleges that while on duty on July 14, Charimari authorised the truck to pass through the border post without receiving the required documentation, verifying it in the ASYCUDA customs system or carrying out the mandatory clearance procedures.
It is further alleged that he knowingly failed to record the truck’s details in the prescribed SB1 or SB2 registers before allowing it to proceed.
