Author: FAUSTINE KAPAMA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: TWO more prosecution witnesses gave damning evidence before the Corruption and Economic Crime Division of High Court in the trial of a couple, Abdul Nsembo and his wife, Shamimu Mwasha, who are charged with trafficking in narcotic drugs.
They were Kelvin Walter, a senior officer with the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and an officer with the Drugs Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA), Juma Suleiman.
It was Walter, who first took the floor before Judge Elinaza Luvanda, whose evidence pointed an accusing finger at Nsembo as having been the owner of a vehicle in which narcotic drugs were found.
Led by State Attorney Costantine Kakula, for the prosecution, the witness told the court that he was involved in verifying the vehicle registration system to find out who its owner was.
The fifth prosecution witness testified that in January, 2020 he received a letter from the DCEA, demanding to know who owned the vehicle, a Land rover Discovery, white in colour.
According to him, he started the vehicle verification process and having entering into TRA’s vehicle registration system he discovered Nsembo owned the vehicle since 2018.
Having been satisfied with the position, the witness explained that he prepared a report and handed it over to the DCEA for further action. The court received the Land rover Discovery vehicle, as an exhibit in the case.
On his part, Suleiman, who testified as the sixth prosecution witness, told the High Court that he was the one who had sent samples involved in the trial to the Chief Government Chemist office for analysis.
The witness testified that on May 2, 2019, he was given some samples by Inspector Johari along with a sample submission form to the Office in question.
Seleiman further explained that the samples were received by a chemist who was identified himself as Fidelis Segumbo for examination, at around 2pm and registered it.
“The specimens were five envelopes. Preliminary investigation by the chemist indicated that some of the samples were narcotic drugs of heroin type. Then he sealed it with a chemistry label, put a seal and his signature,” he testified.
Suleiman told the court further that after analyzing the samples that were in the A, B, C, D, E, envelopes, he returned them to the DCEA offices and handed them over to Inspector Johari.
In the trial, Nsembo is charged alongside his wife, Shamim, with trafficking in 275.40 grams of Heroin Hydrochloride, which are narcotic drugs on May 1, 2019 at Mbezi Beach area within Kinondoni District in the city.
Several other witnesses have so far testified into trial, including Inspector Paschal Daudi, who gave an account of how they arrested suspected drug baron Abdul Nsembo while hiding in the ceiling board of his house at Mbezi area in Dar es Salaam.
