Maravi

MDC minister took phone but didn't steal - lawyer

MDC minister took phone but didn't steal - lawyer
Written by Kingsley Kaswende in Harare, Zimbabwe
Friday, July 31, 2009 3:36:24 PM

The lawyer representing MDC deputy youth minister Thamsanqa Mahlangu who was arrested over the theft of a cell phone admitted that his client took the phone but denies theft.

Mahlangu was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and is accused of stealing war veteran Joseph Chinotimba’s Nokia 2310 cell phone at a conference two weeks ago.

According to Mahlangu’s lawyer Charles Kwaramba, Chinotimba is suing for US $19 million because he lost business during the period the phone had been stolen.

Mahlangu, the MP for Nkulumane Constituency in Bulawayo, has been held at Rhodesville Police Station in Harare since Tuesday and was due to appear in court on Thursday.

Kwaramba said although Mahlangu took the cell phone out of the conference venue, he denies having stolen it.

“He got the phone from one of his assistants who picked it up. It had been dropped on the floor. It was picked up by somebody and they handed it over to him thinking that it was his because he has a similar phone. He then said it wasn’t his, and what transpired thereafter is that he kept it. He wanted to give it back to the organisers of the conference,” the lawyer said.

He said Mahlangu, who stays in Bulawayo, immediately left for home after he was handed the phone. According to Kwaramba, his client could not return to Harare in time to hand over the cell phone because of his busy schedule.

“But he doesn’t have this phone now. He had given it to another minister (youth minister Saviour Kasukuwere) who has the phone. He gave the phone sometime ago to that minister. So it is not really like he has had the phone for the past two weeks,” he said.

There were reports claiming that Mahlangu only handed the phone after he learnt that the woman who had the sim-card had been arrested.

Two women, Geraldine Phiri and Patience Nyoni, who are alleged to be involved in the same case, have been in custody since last week.

They are charged with contravening a section of the Telecommunications Act for allegedly using a sim-card without the owner’s permission. The two appeared in court initially on Wednesday but the case never took off.

It is alleged that Mahlangu sat at the same table with Chinotimba during the lunch break when the latter left his mobile phone on the table while he collected some food, and on return he could not find his mobile phone.

Police later tracked the number with the help of the network provider and arrested a woman who was using the sim-card in Hwange, about 900km away from Harare.

The woman allegedly implicated Mahlangu when she was arrested.

Labels: MDC, THAMSANQA MAHLANGU

posted by MrK @ 2:36 PM