The Sunday News
Sunday News Reporter
A MAN from Plumtree, who was arrested two weeks ago in Bulawayo in a case linked to smuggling of 14 kilogrammes of gold in 2018, has been jailed for four years in another case linked to the 28,5kg of the yellow metal which vanished from the armoury at Plumtree Police Station the same year.
Jefat Chaganda, the chief suspect in the 14 kilogramme case was arrested after he sneaked into the country from his hideout in South Africa. He had skipped bail last year and his lawyers, Nyikadzino, Simango and Associates, told High Court judge Justice Thompson Mabhikwa, in court, that he was dead although they could not produce a death certificate.
However, in the latest case, Chaganda who had already been commuted to jail pending the finalisation of the 14kg gold case, was sentenced to four years in prison after he was found guilty of obstructing the course of justice in a case linked to the pending case of the disappearance of the 28kg at the police station.
Bulawayo magistrate Mr Tinashe Tashaya suspended one year of the sentence on condition Chaganda does not commit a similar offence in the next five years. Prosecuting, Mr Khumbulani Ndlovu told the court that in July 2018 Changanda visited a shop owned by Sambo Maguswa and Simangaliso Mpala in Bulawayo and requested that a key be cut for him from an impression he had made on a bar of soap. The court heard that a day later, Chaganda approached the two and requested that they cut another key as the first could not open the target door.
After the theft of the 28kg of gold from the police armoury, police discovered that the duplicate keys that were used in opening the armoury were done by Maguswa and Mpala. It was heard that when Chaganda heard that police were now quizzing Maguswa and Mpala over the gold heist, he approached the two locksmiths and offered to pay them an undisclosed amount of money so that they throw away their cellphones and lines, relocate and be out of reach of the police.
The matter was reported to the police leading to the arrest of Chaganda where he was charged for obstructing the course of justice. He was initially convicted on 5 August 2019 but he took advantage of another case where he was bailed and absconded court until he was arrested again two weeks ago. When the gold theft was discovered, a duplicate key was found in the armoury and it was also open leading to investigations that led to the discovery that the gold that was kept as an exhibit had been stolen.
