By Panashe Divine Karidzagundi
Two men on Wednesday appeared before Regional Magistrate Charity Maphosa facing charges of unlawful possession of dagga.
Leonard Tobayiwa, 46, a bus conductor, and Tinashe Leo Nwadzimba, 27, are both denying the charge rising from their arrest November 11, 2025 at the Dulivhadzimo Bus Terminus.
The State, represented by Prosecutor Willbrought Muleya, alleges that Tobayiwa was found with a white sack allegedly containing dagga after police got a tip off.
In his defence Tobayiwa said he was given the sack by a “young boy,” who allegedly disappeared immediately after giving him the parcel.
Tobayiwa told the court he had been at the bus terminal when the boy approached him and handed over a white parcel with a name and a phone number written on it.
“After an hour I left the bus terminal and later received a call from a friend telling me the police were looking for me. When I returned, officers asked about the sack. They asked if I knew what was inside, and I told them I didn’t,” he told the court.
When asked who the owner was he called Nwadzimba, who came to the scene but was immediately arrested by the police.
Tobayiwa claimed that he was never given a chance to inspect the sack and insisted the one brought to court as an exhibit was not the same parcel he received.
Muleya argued that Tobayiwa voluntarily led the police to the sack and accused him of acting “in connivance with the second accused.”
Nwadzimba, who is alleged to have given the sack to Tobayiwa, denied possessing any dagga on the day in question.
He told the court he had contacted Tobayiwa around 4 PM on November 11 to transport his parcel to Harare, saying the two knew each other from church.
“I didn’t see the sack that the police brought to court. Mine was three-quarters full and had a phone number written on it,” he said.
Nwadzimba insisted that the sack he sent was successfully received in Harare and maintained that he had no involvement with drugs.
He further claimed that police did not inform him why he was being arrested.
Muleya told the court that Nwadzimba was downplaying his connection to the parcel misleading the court yet both men worked together.
The matter was postponed to November 21, for continuation of trial.