A prosecution witness in a case involving former Simba Secretary General, Hassan Othman ‘Hassano’ told the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam that new technology of tracking system helped to detect the position where stolen copper worth over 397m/-was offloaded.
Former Simba Sports Club Secretary General, Hassan Othman ‘Hassanol’ is escorted by a prison warden as he enters the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday. He is accused of stealing copper worth more than 397m/-. (Photo by Mohamed Mambo)
Rahim Jeta, a businessman dealing with transportation business, alleged before Senior Resident Magistrate Devota Kisoka that the stole cargo was found hidden at a certain yard at Bahari Beach area in Kinondoni District on August 27, 2011.
The stolen cooper was offloaded from a lorry on transit from Zambia. Jeta was giving his testimony in the trial of Hassano who is also the Coastal Region Football Association (COREFA) Chairman and two other accused persons, including one Wambura Mahega and Dr Bajim Msenga.
Led by Senior State Attorney Tumaini Kweka, the witness told the court that at the time of the theft incidence, the alleged stole consignment was being transported from Zambia to Dar es Salaam. It was to be kept at the yard of Tanzania Road Haulage (TRH) before being exported to its owner.
He alleged that a company known as Liberty Express Tanzania Limited for which he was acting managing director at the time, had been sub-contracted to transport the cargo to the yard using a Scania lorry number T 821 DCL. On August 27, 2011, he said, while in his office he was informed that the lorry in question had not reached its offloading destination.
“We checked in the tracking system to know when the vehicle went off route. We discovered that at night it went along Bagamoyo Road to Bahari beach,” he said. According to the witness, the said vehicle was required to pass through Mandela Road to Kurasini areas where the consignment was to be offloaded at the TRH yard, but it diverted its route to Bahari Beach.
He narrated that they also checked where in the areas the vehicle had stopped for more than two hours. “We went to inform the police at Oysterbay on the disappearance of the cargo. We accompanied the police to Bahari Beach while armed with tracking system gadgets.
We managed to detect the point where the cargo was offloaded,” Jeta alleged. He narrated further that after approaching the area, they saw a Masaai security guard locking the gate of the point. However, the witness alleged, the police jumped over the fence and opened the gate.
Upon entering, he alleged, they saw the consignment covered with a red canvas. “The police called the owner of the yard identified as Najim, who informed them that he will not come there because he was attending a burial in Tanga. He (Najim) told the police that the yard was not his, but he had been asked by one Hassano to keep it there,” the witness concluded.
After concluding his testimony, the prosecution requested the court to release the copper, which are at Oysterbay Police Station, to its transporter company, Liberty Express Tanzania Limited, after having been tendered as exhibit in the case.
The defence, led by seasoned advocate Richard Rweyongeza, however, objected to the request on grounds that there was a dispute as to who owned the cargo at the time of theft.
He argued that the consignment should remain in the court’s custody until the conclusion of the trial. Magistrate Kisoka said she would deliver her ruling on the request on August 6, this year, when hearing of the case will continue.
By FAUSTINE KAPAMA, Tanzania Daily News
