THE State has withdrawn charges against a Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) member, Raphios Mufandauya, arrested on allegations of attempting to assist Henrieta Rushwaya smuggle 6kg gold out of the country in October 2020.
The charges were withdrawn when he appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje on Wednesday.
Mufandauya was charged with “dealing and possession of gold without a licence.”
He was initially arrested with Stephen Tserai before the State decided to jointly charge them with Rushwaya and Gift Karanda.
On Wednesday, Mufandauya appeared in court along with Rushwaya, Tserai and Karanda but the prosecution withdrew his charges before plea and remanded the others to March 17. Through their lawyer,Mr Peter Patisani, Rushwaya, Tserai and Karanda demanded a trial date arguing their case was dragging. The prosecutor Mr Lancelot Mutsokoti told the court that there were pending extra-territorial investigations, hence the delay in setting the matter down for trial.
“We apply that the matter be postponed to March 17 as there are extra-territorial investigations which are to be undertaken in the United Arab Emirates,” said Mr Mutsokoti.