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Court Reporter

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is now considering the dockets of Henrietta Rushwaya and her accomplices on charges relating to the alleged attempt to smuggle 6kg of gold outside Zimbabwe and should be able to soon set their trial dates.

Investigations into the cases are complete, said prosecutor Mr Lancelot Mutsokoti while responding to fresh bail applications citing changed circumstances made by two suspended police officers, Douglas Shoko and Paul Chimhungu, who are accused of tampering with information that could incriminate Ali Mohammad, co-accused of Rushwaya.

Although he admitted that time had lapsed since they were detained pending investigations into their matter, Mr Mutsokoti said the two, through their lawyers Messrs Admire Rubaya and Brighton Pabwe, had failed to show any changed circumstances.

“The first changed circumstances alleged by the accused is the effluxion of time,” he said.

“While it is accepted that the accused persons have been in custody for over 75 days, it is submitted that significant progress has been made towards bringing them to trial.

“Investigations are now complete and the docket has been forwarded to the National Prosecuting Authority for perusal and setting of a trial date.

“It is expected that the accused persons will probably be furnished with a trial date on their next remand appearance.”

Mr Mutsokoti submitted that the national lockdown brought about by the second wave of Covid-19 was not a changed circumstance that warranted their release on bail.

He argued that granting bail to the duo will compromise the reasons they were initially denied.

Responding to Shoko and Chimhungu’s contention that they had been suspended from their duties and could not thus interfere with witnesses, the State argued that they remained members of the police force and retained their ranks, hence were capable of interfering with witnesses.

The previous granting of bail to Rushwaya and Ali Mohammad did not take away their charges, hence they needed to keep the two officers in custody pending trial.

Shoko and Chimhungu had argued that a long time had lapsed since they were remanded in custody pending trial and that police had failed to abide by the date they had promised to complete investigations.

They also submitted that the new Covid-19 lockdown measures would restrict their movements and that they had since been suspended from work, which takes away the State’s fears of interfering with witnesses.

Another suspect in the gold smuggling case, security officer Gift Karanda, also applied for bail on changed circumstances.

Karanda, who was being represented by lawyer Mr Tungamirai Chakurira, argued that police had completed investigations into his matter, leaving no room for him to interfere with witnesses.

Harare magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna is expected to make a ruling today.