Cephas Shava
MWENEZI – Tafadzwa Shambare (33), of House Number 2080 Overspill, Epworth in Harare was last week convicted by Mwenezi magistrate Honest Musiiwa for kidnapping two Mwenezi police officers.
Shambare, pleaded not guilty to two counts of kidnapping but was nonetheless convicted at the close of State’s case after overwhelming evidence against him. For the two counts, he was sentenced to 10 months behind bars of which four months were conditionally suspended.
Giving his side of the story earlier on in court, Shambare – through his defence lawyer – argued that the two kidnapped officers, Nothani Nyoni and Moxolisi Ngwenya boarded his bus and did not bother to tell him his offence until they reached the Chivi tollgate.
However, on their part the two officers – who were manning a roadblock on the day in question – told the court that they escorted the impounded bus to Mwenezi Police Station on the orders of their superior but Shambare sped off with them still on board.
The State’s case, as presented by prosecutor Willard Chasi, was that on November 4, 2017, the police officers were manning a roadblock at the 174 km peg along the Beitbridge – Masvingo Road when they were tipped about a Mfazi carrying chicken cuts and other smuggled goods from South Africa.
When the bus was stopped, Shambare failed to produce declaration forms for the goods and was therefore ordered to drive to the police station with Nyoni and Ngwenya escorting him.
Before reaching the police station, Shambare tried in vain to persuade the officers to let him go. He then sped off towards Masvingo and never stopped until he was intercepted by Support Unit officers who were at Chivi tollgate, leading to his arrest.local
