adminThandeka Moyo Court Reporter
A ZAMBIAN poacher escaped death by a whisker when rangers shot him after they caught him packing elephant tusks worth $15,000.
Walubita Lindunda, 37, of Sitwala Village in Kazungula, Zambia, who was in the company of 11 other Zambians who are on the run sustained serious injuries on the thigh and failed to attend court yesterday after he was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo. Court officials yesterday visited the ailing Lindunda who still had a bullet in his thigh.
“I am not the one who shot the elephant. Actually the 11 men on the run shot it and I helped in packing the tusks,” he said in Tonga.
Bulawayo magistrate Chrispen Mberewere remanded him in custody to March, 26.
He is charged with using an undesignated point of entry, possessing elephant tusks without a licence and one count of shooting and killing an elephant.
Prosecutors say sometime this month, the accused illegally entered Zimbabwe by crossing Zambezi River.
On March 7, Lindunda was joined by 11 other Zambian immigrants who are on the run and they proceeded to Tibukai Area in Hwange National Park.
derick.khumalo