'Cops added more mbanje twists'

A 48-year old man from Bulawayo, who was arrested on Friday after he was allegedly found in possession of 6,5 grammes of dagga, Monday claimed that police officers added three more twists to ensure that he was jailed for the offence.

Khumbulani Dube of Entumbane pleaded guilty to possessing a single twist of dagga before Magistrate Gladmore Mushove at the Tredgold Magistrates' Courts in Bulawayo.

Dube alleged that he was harassed by detectives who arrested him, with the law enforcement agents further falsely recording that he was a person of no fixed abode on the docket, yet they knew where he resided.

"I had only one twist of mbanje, the police added the other twists. They said they wanted me imprisoned and that is why they added more twists," said Dube after the facts were read to him by state prosecutor Raymond Makhaza.

"I am on medication, but they refused to give me a chance to administer my medicine. They even declined to allow me to visit the toilet. On the docket, they recorded that I was a person of no fixed abode yet those officers know my wife and where I stay."

Mushove ordered the state to confirm with the CID officers the quantity of dagga that Dube was found in possession of.

According to the state outline, on February 28, at about 0030hours, CID detectives who were on duty received a tip off that Dube was selling mbanje at a local bar in the city.

The officers proceeded to the bar where they conducted a body search on the suspect, leading to the arrest of Dube after he was found in possession of 'one twist and three cigarettes of dagga' in his pockets.

He was arrested and taken to CID Drugs and Narcotics at CABS building where the exhibits put on scale and weighed 6, 5 grammes and had a street value of $65.