Ngoni Dapira

AS the proverbial law saying goes, ‘innocent until proven guilty’, this is the case in the twist and turns of the ongoing case at Mutare Magistrate Court of a Chikanga high density suburb woman who is facing two charges, one of unlawful possession of dangerous drugs and the other of selling unregistered specified medicines.

The trial of 43 years old Patricia Tinoona kicked off on Tuesday with Farai Matinhure of Gonese and Ndlovu Legal Practitioners representing the accused. Facing two counts, the first being unlawful possession of dangerous drugs as defined in section 157 (1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23, whilst the second count is contravening Section 29 (1)(a) and Section 29 (1a) of the Medicines and Allied Substances Control Act Chapter 15:03 of selling unregistered specified medicines in Zimbabwe, Tinoona is accused of being found in possession of dagga (Marijuana or Mbanje) and bottles of Benylin cough syrup with codeine thereby contravening the said Acts respectively. She pleaded not guilty of both counts before the court.

The law of possession in Zimbabwe, derived largely from Roman-Dutch common law and codified in various statutes, distinguishes between possession (physical control with the intent to control for oneself) and ownership (an absolute real right).

He further explained that he was the first to move into the yard of the accused and identified himself to the accused through the window where she was allegedly selling from, whilst his colleagues followed shortly after him and stormed into the house to apprehend the accused.  Detective Sgt Kwejo said Detective Constable Pardon Muchato was the one that found 29 sachets of dagga and one big sachet as well as five bottles of 100ml Benylin cough syrup with codeine in a white plastic bucket.

“That’s when we informed the accused that she was under arrest. We searched other rooms but found nothing of interest. We checked for other people but she was alone inside the house,” he said.

Munyuku asked if she admitted to the crime when arrested and Detective Sgt Kwejo said she did admit to possession and actually cooperated in efforts to arrest her supplier but the efforts were in vain. Munyuku asked the detective the same question but added that the accused had sworn to the court that she is not guilty of both counts.

“The accused is lying. I have no reason to frame her because I am not from Mutare and do not know her…I saw the accused serving the drugs through the window but unfortunately the man that was buying the drugs sped off,” said the officer as he declined to the assertions.

Cross examining Detective Sgt Kwejo, the defense lawyer Matinhure first asked how many years of experience he had in the police. Detective Sgt Kwejo said six years. Matinhure further quizzed how four officers from Harare got to quickly know about illegal drug selling activities at the house.

“When we entered Mutare we looked for information and one of the informers alerted me on information about drugs being sold at the house of the accused. We met the informant in Chikanga, but I cannot give further details to protect our informant,” he said.

Matinhure said with six years’ experience how could they have not arrested even one drug buyer in the act and just focused on the accused, citing that their duty as law officers was to arrest people buying and selling drugs.

“My assumption is that you were hired by certain people to frame the accused. Why is it that there are no witnesses and just you four police officers from Harare to narrate what happened, not even one drug buyer as well,” rebuffed Matinhure in his cross examination of the State witness.

Detective Sgt Kwejo however refused the claim and said during the operation they arrested more than 15 people on that day, and maintained that by the time he reached the window to identify himself the buyer sped off.

Matinhure continued to interrogate the officer asking why an experienced officer did not considered that trapping the accused in action with a buyer was the best trap because they would both be in possession of the drugs and caught in the act or better yet to go undercover as drug buyers. Detective Sgt Kwejo however said to go undercover they needed authorization. He said their operation was to do surveillance and to catch people in the act or in possession of drugs.

Matinhure asked if the accused had drugs on her when they apprehended her and Detective Sgt Kwejo said no, they only found the dagga and Benylin in the bucket in a room that they identified as her bedroom because of picture frames of her that were on the walls.

“So the accused person was not found in possession of drugs and you did not secure the buyer that you said ran away. Do you even believe your story? The purpose of me saying this is I believe there was no buyer and you were just hired to come an frame the accused and planted drugs in her house,” said Matinhure as he jerked the witness and ended his cross examination.

Detective Sgt Kwejo however responded by saying their superiors can confirm their deployment from Harare for the operation.

The second witness from the same ZRP CID Narcostics division, Detective Const Pardon Muchato, said the same as his colleague but during cross examination conflicted on certain issues. Asked how they received the information about the drug peddling at the accused’s house, Detective Const Muchato said Detective Sgt Kwejo received a call from the informant, which contradicted with what Detective Sgt Kwejo said, that they met the informant in Chikanga. Detective Const Muchato was also contradictory when asked how they conducted their surveillance when he said they were standing from across the road, but Detective Sgt Kwejo had said they were watching everything from a tinted car across the road.

Matinhure asked how many people they saw buying drugs and whether the accused had drugs on her when she was arrested. Detective Const Muchato said they saw three people during the surveillance. He also also confirmed that they had not caught the accused with drugs in person but just uncovered the illegal drugs and Benylin bottles that were in a bucket in the bedroom where they saw the accused selling drugs from the window.

“We could not arrest the buyers because we were supposed to identify our self before any arrest, so it was difficult to catch them,” said Detective Const Muchato.

Matinhure in his closing cross examination said the assertion that the room in question was the accused’s bedroom was wrong, citing that it was actually being used by her cousin Letwin Mavhiza.

“So we can say no offense was committed as she was not in possession of the said drugs, nor did she sell, nor was she aware of the contents uncovered in the bucket. Do you agree,” said Matinhure as he again  jerked the second State witness, but Detective Const Muchato responded that he did not agree with that notion by the defense.

According to the State outline the dagga weighed was 198.3 grams with an estimated street value of US$40, whilst the bottles of Benylin cough syrup with codeine recovered have a street value of US$30.

Due to time constraints, as it was now just after 5pm, the State and defense agreed to adjourn the trial to next week Wednesday (26 November). Magistrate Musiiwa approved.