●Norton man caught with a 19 core Zesa armored cable
●Accused found guilty, sentenced to 10 years in prison
A 24-YEAR-OLD Norton man on Wednesday was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of unlawful possession of 72 metres of core armored Zesa cable.
The cable thief Edson Chiwara appeared at the Harare magistrates’ courts before Magistrate Learnmore Mapiye who gave him a sentence of 10 years in prison.
On December 21, 2019 around 4pm at the Criminal Investigation Department Minerals Flora and Fauna Unit, Chiwara pleaded guilty to being found in possession of Zesa cables in a commuter omnibus.
“I was arrested by the police whilst l was carrying the cables aboard a commuter omnibus. I stole cables at Afro-China where there is construction going on,” Chiwara told the CID.
On December 21, 2019 around 5:50am police officers were manning a roadblock at Harare showgrounds along Samora Machel avenue, when they stopped a Nissan Caravan in which the convicted was aboard.
The officers checked on the vehicle defects and from the inside, they saw Chiwara who was seated at the back.
There were no seats and Chiwara was sitting on top of a 90 kilogram sack.
The police asked Chiwara what was in his sack.
He told them it was copper.
The officers asked him to produce a permit which allowed him to possess the copper, but he failed to do so.
The convicted tried to run away but was caught about five hundred metres away.
Chiwara was taken to the CID MFFU together with his sack of cables, where an official from Zesa was summoned to view the loot.
The Zesa official confirmed that the cable belonged to Zesa.
The 19 core Zesa armored cable which measured up to 72 metres and is valued at US$3 888.
The cable is to be taken back to Zimbabwe Electricity Distribution Company.
Illegal possession of armoured cable is a serious offence in Zimbabwe.
