HARARE
–
A
truck
driver
vanished
with
a
truckload
of
ammonium
nitrate
fertilizer
which
was
due
to
be
delivered
to
the
Battlefields
farm
of
deputy
chief
cabinet
secretary
and
presidency
spokesman
George
Charamba,
a
court
heard
on
Monday.
Prosecutors
revealed
this
as
Sithabisile
Mpofu,
49,
was
charged
with
theft
of
trust
property
at
the
Mbare
Magistrates
Court.
Mpofu,
of
Simbi
Park
in
Redcliff,
was
allegedly
contacted
by
Charamba’s
personal
assistant
Tsitsi
Chirwa
to
source
a
truck
to
transport
26
tonnes
of
fertilizer
worth
$17,160
from
J
&
J
in
Mt
Hampden,
Harare,
to
the
farm
near
Kwekwe.
The
court
heard
that
Mpofu
in
turn
hired
truck
driver
Stewart
Sanikwa
who
picked
up
the
fertilizer
on
July
11.
Arrangements
had
been
made
that
Gift
Nyamutowa,
an
employee
of
the
president’s
office,
would
accompany
the
truck
to
Battlefields
but
he
was
late
arriving.
“The
truck
driver,
who
is
still
at
large,
took
advantage
of
the
absence
of
complainant
(Nyamutowa)
and
drove
the
truck
from
the
loading
point
without
escort
and
disappeared
with
the
load,”
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority
said.
Nyamutowa
later
drove
to
the
farm
but
discovered
that
the
fertilizer
had
not
reached
its
destination
and
a
police
report
was
made.
Prosecutors
accuse
Mpofu
of
also
supplying
false
registration
details
of
the
truck
used
to
carry
the
fertilizer.
Mpofu
has
been
remanded
in
custody.