By Panashe Kaseke
Terrence Mukupe, former Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development has been sentenced to an effective three year jail term for smuggling 138,000 liters of diesel.
Mukupe was sentenced by High Court Judge Justice Benjamin Chikwowero and was also slapped with a US$12 780 fine.
This verdict comes in response to Mukupe’s involvement in the importation of diesel on the the 27th of January 2017 without paying duty and was finally convicted early November 2023.
“The state proved that on the 27th of January 2017 at Forbes Boarder Post in Mutare, Terrence Mukupe, Same Kapisoriso, Joseph Taderera and Leonard Mudzuto connived to unlawful import diesel without paying duty.
“The accused persons misrepresented that diesel was going to be offloaded in the Democratic Republic of Conco (DRC). Pursuant to their plan they replaced the diesel with water in Zimbabwe.
“The matter came to light on the 30th of January 2017 when officials from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) intercept them at Chirundu One Stop Boarder Post to verify the nature of the goods they were carrying,” reads a statement released by the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe.
Mukupe’s accomplices, Same Kapisoriso, Joseph Taderera and Leonard Mudzuto, were also given similar sentences.
