Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku [email protected]
A Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) officer who was accused of helping a convicted rapist and prison escapee Mike Cabangani Mathe flee from Plumtree Prison has been acquitted.
Yusufu Yusufu (47) appeared on Thursday for judgement before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mr Taurai Manuwere, who ruled that he had been found not guilty.
In delivering judgement, Mr Manuwere stated that the State had failed to prove its case and highlighted that the accomplice witness, Mike Cabangani Mathe, was not a credible witness.
“Mathe told this court he had lent the accused US$2 000 but when he was asked to produce documentary proof to show that he had indeed lent him money he failed, and when he was asked to call a witness to testify on his behalf to corroborate his evidence, again he failed and told this court that he did not want to put their lives in danger,” said Mr Manuwere.
The magistrate further stated that the accused is known for being strict and doing his work procedurally.
“The accused is known for being somebody who is strict and does not tolerate anything that compromises his work. As such, there is a probability that the accomplice witness could have acted in connivance with another prison officer so as to fix the accused,” said Mr Manuwere.
He also stated that the accomplice witness told this court that he was not allowed to use the ZPCS official mobile phone. However, Superintendent Bhekumuzi Khanye told the court that the accomplice witness was not banned from using the official prison mobile phone to communicate with his wife.
Prosecuting, Ms Mufaro Ndirayire told the court that Mathe, who was serving a 20-year prison sentence at Plumtree Prison under prison number 25625, escaped from lawful custody at about 2am on 15 November last year.
At the time, Mathe was also facing other charges, including murder, having sexual intercourse with a young person and physical abuse.
“On 15 November last year at around 2am, Mathe escaped from Plumtree Prison by cutting the burglar bars of his holding cell window using two hacksaw blades supplied by the accused,” said Ms Ndirayire.
The court heard that Mathe fled the prison after cutting the burglar bars, leaving behind the two hacksaw blades allegedly used during the escape.
The prosecution intends to produce the blades as exhibits. Following the jailbreak, Mathe allegedly crossed into Malawi, where he disguised himself as a street vendor while evading capture.
His freedom ended when Malawian authorities arrested him after he failed to produce valid identification documents and was found to have entered the country illegally.
He was deported to Zimbabwe on 24 February and was immediately arrested by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Homicide detectives upon arrival at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
Mathe later appeared before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mr Mathew Mutiro, who convicted him of escaping from lawful custody and sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment.
