TWIST IN COURT : COP'S SMUGGLING CHARGE DROPPED

A Bulawayo traffic cop who was dramatically arrested for smuggling a Honda Fit into the country has walked free after prosecutors withdrew the charges before plea and the man behind the botched job is now paying the price.

Constable Ngonidzashe Musiwa (32) of ZRP Bulawayo Central Traffic was caught red-handed driving the blue Honda Fit through a Plumtree police roadblock with suspicious plates, sparking a swift arrest and an internal investigation.

Police at the 98km peg along the Plumtree-Bulawayo Road flagged down the unregistered hatchback on 27 June. Musiwa complied, but officers quickly noticed the vehicle had no rear number plate and began probing.

A background check revealed the front plate, AEQ 0364, belonged to a completely different Honda Fit registered to a man in Masvingo.

The chassis and engine numbers didn’t match — and the car wasn’t even on the Zimra import records.

Investigators initially believed the uniformed cop had smuggled the vehicle himself through Dombodema, using bush paths to dodge customs duty.

Musiwa allegedly confessed during interviews that he had acquired the car from Durban, South Africa, and had used plates from a non-runner he previously owned.

The arrest was formalised, and the constable was paraded as the main suspect. But the twist came in court.

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Musiwa after it was established he wasn’t the one who illegally brought the car across the border.

The real culprit, 37-year-old Gift Andrew Chaima, later appeared in court and owned up to the smuggling.

He admitted sneaking the car into Zimbabwe from Botswana through the Dombodema bush on 26 June and affixing it with the fake number plate before handing it over.

Chaima told the court the car was bought for him by a relative in Durban and that he didn’t know duty had to be paid.

Magistrate Joshua Nembaware slapped him with a US$350 fine or four months in jail, two of which were suspended for five years.

He was also ordered to pay the outstanding customs duty of over US$1 200 and ZIG 33 231,17, by 30 September or face six more months behind bars.

The blue Honda Fit, valued at US$2 501,92, was seized by Zimra.

Meanwhile, Constable Musiwa is back at work, his record cleared.

“Even cops can get caught in the wrong car at the wrong time,” said a fellow officer. “Luckily for him, the truth came out.”

Ms Sheila Nyathi prosecuted. B Metro

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