The High Court has reserved judgment on former Deputy Finance Minister Terrence Mukube’s final appeal against his conviction, three-year prison sentence and US$12,780 fine for smuggling 138,000 liters of diesel.
He appealed against the conviction and sentence to the Supreme Court, which confirmed both, but the Supreme Court agreed to hear the second appeal this week.
A three-judge panel led by Justice Nicholas Mattonsi heard the appeal yesterday and reserved judgment.
Mukubi was convicted last year, along with drivers Sam Kabisouriso, Joseph Taderera and Leonard Mudzoto, of illegally importing diesel fuel without paying customs duties.
The four were sentenced to three and a half years in prison, suspended for six months for a period of five years on condition of good behavior. In addition, the court imposed a fine of $12,780 (or two years) on each of the four.
The three drivers drove the tankers to Zimbabwe loaded with diesel, and newspapers said they were on their way to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But they replaced fuel with water in Zimbabwe. Following conviction, Mukhobi and his accomplices lost bail and are in custody awaiting sentencing.
Mukubi and his accomplices were arrested in February 2017 and charged with fraud or contravening Section 174(1)(e) of the Customs and Excise Act by submitting a false declaration.
The court heard that on 26 January 2017, Kabisouriso, Motsovin and Taderera entered the country through the Forbes border post, driving tankers loaded with diesel from Beira that were marked as being on their way to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
While in Zimbabwe, the three truck drivers colluded with Mukupe to empty the tankers and replace the diesel with water.
Upon their arrival at the Chirundu border post on 31 January while en route to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a physical examination of samples of the tankers’ contents was carried out, which later showed that the tankers contained water and not diesel. Announce
