Peter Dube extradition imminent
THE process of extraditing fugitive murder suspect Peter Dube from Mozambique is nearing completion after nearly five months of legal delays that have plagued the case.
Dube is in police custody in Mozambique after being deported from Ireland.
He fled Zimbabwe in 2021 and settled in the European country after he allegedly shot and killed two people before injuring another in Gweru.
He was later arrested for violating immigration laws in Ireland, where he avoided deportation to Zimbabwe after claiming to be a Mozambican citizen named Armando Quenete Muchanga.
He was later deported to the neighbouring country.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi told The Sunday Mail that most of the legal hurdles delaying the extradition had been dealt with.
“It is work in progress,” he said. “The legal processes which are involved have been causing the delays.
“I want to assure the nation that Peter Dube will be extradited into the country very soon, once the legal processes are complete, as has been assured by the Commissioner-General of Police.
“The process is now at the finalisation stage and that stage is already in motion, which means Dube will be extradited to Zimbabwe very soon.”
Both Zimbabwe and Mozambique are parties to the 2002 SADC Protocol on Extradition, which outlines the process for member states to extradite wanted criminals to requesting member countries.
Member states are generally obligated to extradite their nationals upon request from another member country, provided the offence meets the requirements of the protocol.
The process
Also, member states may consider extradition requests for non-nationals, but this is not mandatory.
The offence for which extradition is sought must be punishable by imprisonment exceeding at least one year in both the requesting and requested state.
A list of specific offences warranting extradition according to the protocol includes murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery and fraud.
Reads the protocol in part: “A request for extradition shall be made in writing. The request, supporting documents and subsequent communications shall be transmitted through the diplomatic channel, directly between the Ministries of Justice or any other authority designated by the State parties.”
The request must be accompanied by a description of the person sought, text of the relevant provision of the law creating the offence and a statement of the penalty that can be imposed for the offence.
Dube, who was a car dealer in Gweru, allegedly shot Shelton Chinhango and his wife’s best friend Gamuchirai Mudungwe.
He then allegedly turned the gun on his second wife Nyasha Nharingo’s sister, Nyaradzo.
After the incident, Dube reportedly fled to South Africa, before relocating to Eswatini, where he changed his identity to Xolile Mtsali.
From Eswatini, he travelled to Ireland, where he sought asylum.
He was then arrested in Ireland last June after The Sunday Mail published an exposé on how he escaped from Zimbabwe after allegedly committing the crime.