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Prison officer cleared over Plumtree prison escape
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A Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) officer accused of assisting convicted rapist and prison escapee Mike Cabangani Mathe to flee from Plumtree Prison has been acquitted after a court found the State failed to prove its case.
Yusufu Yusufu, 47, was found not guilty on Thursday by Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Taurai Manuwere, who ruled that the prosecution's case rested on the evidence of an unreliable accomplice witness.
In delivering judgment, the magistrate said Mathe's testimony lacked credibility and was not supported by independent evidence.
"Mathe told this court he had lent the accused US$2,000 but when he was asked to produce documentary proof to show that he had indeed lent him money he failed, and when he was asked to call a witness to testify on his behalf to corroborate his evidence, again he failed and told this court that he did not want to put their lives in danger," Manuwere said.
The magistrate also noted evidence presented during the trial suggesting that Yusufu had a reputation for enforcing prison regulations without compromise.
"The accused is known for being somebody who is strict and does not tolerate anything that compromises his work. As such, there is a probability that the accomplice witness could have acted in connivance with another prison officer so as to fix the accused," he said.
Manuwere further pointed to inconsistencies in Mathe's evidence regarding access to the prison's official mobile phone.
While Mathe claimed he had been prohibited from using the ZPCS phone, Superintendent Bhekumuzi Khanye testified that the inmate had been permitted to use the official phone to communicate with his wife.
According to the prosecution, Mathe escaped from Plumtree Prison at about 2am on November 15 last year while serving a 20-year sentence for rape.
At the time of the escape, he was also facing separate charges of murder, having sexual intercourse with a young person and physical abuse.
Prosecutor Mufaro Ndirayire alleged that Yusufu supplied Mathe with two hacksaw blades, which he allegedly used to cut through the burglar bars of his holding cell before escaping.
The hacksaw blades recovered from the prison were intended to be produced as exhibits during the trial.
Following the jailbreak, Mathe allegedly fled to Malawi, where he disguised himself as a street vendor while evading capture.
His freedom came to an end after Malawian authorities arrested him for failing to produce valid identification documents and entering the country illegally.
He was deported to Zimbabwe on February 24 and was immediately arrested by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Homicide detectives upon his arrival at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
Mathe was later convicted of escaping from lawful custody by Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mathew Mutiro and sentenced to an additional six years' imprisonment.
Yusufu Yusufu, 47, was found not guilty on Thursday by Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Taurai Manuwere, who ruled that the prosecution's case rested on the evidence of an unreliable accomplice witness.
In delivering judgment, the magistrate said Mathe's testimony lacked credibility and was not supported by independent evidence.
"Mathe told this court he had lent the accused US$2,000 but when he was asked to produce documentary proof to show that he had indeed lent him money he failed, and when he was asked to call a witness to testify on his behalf to corroborate his evidence, again he failed and told this court that he did not want to put their lives in danger," Manuwere said.
The magistrate also noted evidence presented during the trial suggesting that Yusufu had a reputation for enforcing prison regulations without compromise.
"The accused is known for being somebody who is strict and does not tolerate anything that compromises his work. As such, there is a probability that the accomplice witness could have acted in connivance with another prison officer so as to fix the accused," he said.
Manuwere further pointed to inconsistencies in Mathe's evidence regarding access to the prison's official mobile phone.
While Mathe claimed he had been prohibited from using the ZPCS phone, Superintendent Bhekumuzi Khanye testified that the inmate had been permitted to use the official phone to communicate with his wife.
According to the prosecution, Mathe escaped from Plumtree Prison at about 2am on November 15 last year while serving a 20-year sentence for rape.
At the time of the escape, he was also facing separate charges of murder, having sexual intercourse with a young person and physical abuse.
Prosecutor Mufaro Ndirayire alleged that Yusufu supplied Mathe with two hacksaw blades, which he allegedly used to cut through the burglar bars of his holding cell before escaping.
The hacksaw blades recovered from the prison were intended to be produced as exhibits during the trial.
Following the jailbreak, Mathe allegedly fled to Malawi, where he disguised himself as a street vendor while evading capture.
His freedom came to an end after Malawian authorities arrested him for failing to produce valid identification documents and entering the country illegally.
He was deported to Zimbabwe on February 24 and was immediately arrested by Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Homicide detectives upon his arrival at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
Mathe was later convicted of escaping from lawful custody by Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mathew Mutiro and sentenced to an additional six years' imprisonment.
Source - The Chronicle
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