News / National
2 company bosses in court over Zambia rendition of truck driver
25 Jan 2024 at 07:12hrs | Views
Two bosses of a trucking company in Harare appeared in court on Thursday accused of the extrajudicial rendition of a truck driver from Zimbabwe to Zambia, after accusing him of losing a fertilizer consignment.
Profburg Consultancy managing director Moussa Mounchikpou, 57, of Chisora Road in The Grange and the company's head truck driver Brian Chande, 50, of Svosve Street in Zengeza 1, allegedly took part in the abduction, torture and illegal movement of 48-year-old Tasara Hwata to Zambia.
The two men were not asked to plead and were released on US$200 bail each by Harare magistrate Stanford Mambanje. They will next appear in court on March 24.
The National Prosecuting Authority is alleging that on October 28 last year and at the company's Wokington office in Harare, Mounchikpou and Sande – in the company of three other people – summoned Hwata to one of the offices.
Chande allegedly introduced the three other individuals, who are still at large, as police officers.
The three "police officers," says the prosecution, advised Hwata that he was under arrest for failing to deliver 600 bags of fertilizer at Omnia Fertiliser Company in Zambia.
"They further assaulted Hwata with a baton stick whilst he was handcuffed, ordering him to tell them where he had offloaded the truck load of fertilizer," it is alleged.
At around 5PM, Mounchikpou, Chande and their alleged accomplices forcibly took Hwata into their vehicle against his will. The court heard that Chande drove to Chirundu border post where they handed him over to Lloyd Chisumba, a Zambian national who was in the company of Zambian police officers.
Chisumba, who was using an Isuzu twin cab took Hwata to Mosque Police Post in Makeni, Zambia, where he was detained.
Hwata's wife filed a report through Interpol on December 18, 2023.
Profburg Consultancy managing director Moussa Mounchikpou, 57, of Chisora Road in The Grange and the company's head truck driver Brian Chande, 50, of Svosve Street in Zengeza 1, allegedly took part in the abduction, torture and illegal movement of 48-year-old Tasara Hwata to Zambia.
The two men were not asked to plead and were released on US$200 bail each by Harare magistrate Stanford Mambanje. They will next appear in court on March 24.
The National Prosecuting Authority is alleging that on October 28 last year and at the company's Wokington office in Harare, Mounchikpou and Sande – in the company of three other people – summoned Hwata to one of the offices.
Chande allegedly introduced the three other individuals, who are still at large, as police officers.
"They further assaulted Hwata with a baton stick whilst he was handcuffed, ordering him to tell them where he had offloaded the truck load of fertilizer," it is alleged.
At around 5PM, Mounchikpou, Chande and their alleged accomplices forcibly took Hwata into their vehicle against his will. The court heard that Chande drove to Chirundu border post where they handed him over to Lloyd Chisumba, a Zambian national who was in the company of Zambian police officers.
Chisumba, who was using an Isuzu twin cab took Hwata to Mosque Police Post in Makeni, Zambia, where he was detained.
Hwata's wife filed a report through Interpol on December 18, 2023.
Source - zimlive
