A MOZAMBICAN man yesterday escaped jail after he was fined $100 for smuggling 245 pieces of Zanu PF regalia inscribed with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s face for resale in the neighbouring country.
BY RICHARD MUPONDE
Samuel Elias Tirarame of Mashiri village, under Chief Mutwayo, who is a vendor, was convicted on his own plea of guilty to contravening section 11 (5)(b) of the Immigration Act (entry by evasion) and section 125 (a)(b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (possession of property reasonably suspected to be stolen) before Chipinge magistrate Joshua Nembaware.
The magistrate treated the two counts as one and also noted that he was a first offender.
“You are fined $100 or 10 days in prison. In addition, the 245 pieces of the regalia are forfeited to the State. The court also noted that you are a first offender who pleaded guilty, thereby not wasting the court’s time. You are also a married man with two children and sending you to prison will not be ideal,” Nembaware said.
Tirarame was arrested in December last year and has been on remand until his trial last Friday, where he pleaded guilty.
In mitigation, Tirarame said he was remorseful and told the court that he wanted to take the regalia to Mozambique for resale as it was popular in that country.
Prosecutor Shamiso Mayera told the court that on December 19 last year, Tirarame was arrested along the Zimbabwe-Mozambique border around the Sundown area in Chipinge and was found in possession of 245 pieces of Zanu PF regalia, which he intended to smuggle to Mozambique.
