Treasure hunting cops acquitted
THREE senior police officers from the Asset Forfeiture Unit in Harare who were arrested for allegedly digging a Nyanyadzi homestead in search of an undisclosed hidden treasure were this week acquitted by the courts.
The trio — Shepherd Tachiona (50) (Detective Superintendent) of Dawnview Park, Harare; Mkhululi Nyoni (51) (Detective Chief Inspector) of Manyame Park, Chitungwiza and Monica Madzima (Detective Inspector) of Chipukutu Park, Ruwa — who are attached to the Asset and Forfeiture Unit, CID Headquarters in Harare, — were acquitted at the close of the State case on Tuesday.
The defence, comprising of Messrs Musindo Hungwe, James Nemaisa and Lancelot Mutsokoti of M.D Hungwe Attorneys at Law, made an application and the State, which was represented by Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira conceded that it had failed to prove a prima facie case to warrant the accused trio to be put on their defence.
Initially, the trio spent three nights in custody following their arrest in December last year on criminal abuse of duty as a public officer charges as defined in Section 174 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
Upon their initial court appearance, they were remanded out of custody to January 1, 2024 on US$50 bail each.
It was alleged that the accused persons, in the exercise of their functions as public officers, intentionally dug the homestead yard of Ms Simangaliso Memory Mushaya in search of a treasure allegedly hidden underground without authority from their principal as well as engagement of other relevant Government experts, for the purpose of showing disfavour to the State; a conduct which is contrary to or inconsistent with their duty as public officers.
The court heard that on December 22, Tachiona, Nyoni and Madzima proceeded to Nyanyadzi Irrigation Scheme in search of a treasure allegedly hidden underground there.
“Upon arrival in Nyanyadzi, they approached the house owner, Ms Simangaliso Memory Mushaya armed with a warrant of search and seizure issued on October 18, 2023 at Chipinge Magistrates’ Court by the resident magistrate, Mr Mkwananzi (Franklyn). They informed the house owner that they intended to dig her homestead’s yard in search of the hidden treasure,” said Mr Mutyasira.
The owner of the homestead allegedly complied with the given instruction.
“In pursuit of their mission, the accused persons had not advised their principal before embarking on the mission as is the norm. Further, they had not engaged other relevant Government departments for their expert services. Instead, they had sought the services of one structural surveyor, Victor Mukungunugwa employed by Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency whom they intended to pay for his services in their personal capacity.
“They had also sought the services of a prophet, Revesai Matimba, who claims to have spiritual powers to detect precious minerals,” said Mr Mutyasira.
It is alleged that the accused persons were later intercepted by the police in the midst of digging in search of the alleged hidden treasure on Christmas Day.