HARARE – Suspected armed robber Musa Taj Abdul and eight other men were on Tuesday convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by Harare magistrate Barbra Mateko.
Abdul and his associates Liberty Mupamhanga, Prince Makodza, Godfrey Mupamhanga, Charles Lundu, Rudolph Kanhanga, Innocent Jairos, Tapiwa Mangoma and Carrington Marasha all pleaded not guilty, but were convicted after a full trial.
Mateko said the men were acting in common purpose when they were arrested at a house in Beitbridge in August last year with police recovering a 9mm Vector Z88 pistol with its serial numbers obliterated. Police also found 11 live cartridges for the same weapon and twenty 12-bore shotgun cartridges.
In mitigation, the men maintained their innocence as they pleaded for lenient sentences.
They will be sentenced on Wednesday.
Police said Abdul – a suspect in more than a dozen armed robbery cases – had been on the run for 20 years when he was arrested.
The gang had been staying at the home of a police officer.
Francesca Mukumbiri and Oscar Madhume prosecuted.
