Henrietta Rushwaya
By Dickson Bandera
Zimbabwe Miners Federation president Henrietta Rushwaya was this Tuesday convicted of attempting to smuggle 6kg of gold out of Zimbabwe.
She was remanded in custody to 10 November 2023, for sentencing.
Rushwaya was arrested at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on October 26, 2020 after the airport security discovered 6kg of gold valued at approximately US$333,000 stashed in her hand luggage.
She was using the VIP entrance point.
In her trial at the Anti Corruption Court, she went on to plead not guilty, claiming that on the travel day she had erroneously taken the wrong bag for her Dubai trip.
However, Justice Pisirayi Kwenda, sitting with two assessors, found Rushwaya guilty, dismissing her defence of a “wrong bag” as implausible.
The prosecution also pinned Rushwaya on her failure to provide a valid export permit and claimed she presented a fake invoice and packing list from a company called Ali Japan 786 (Pvt) Limited.
The Gold Trade Act requires any dealer in gold to be properly licensed to trade in gold.
