Moshi woman, driver get 30 years in jail

Moshi. Former PPF Pension Fund employee Anitha Oswald and taxi driver Frank Moshi were sentenced to a 30-year jail term yesterday after the court found them guilty of trafficking 214 kilo of khat.

Anitha lawyer’s plea for the court to issue a lenient punishment on her on the grounds that the convict was still young could not help matters failed.

Judge Elinaza Luvanda of the High Court’s Economic Crimes Division ruled here yesterday that Anitha’s 30-year jail term should serve as a lesson to her and others contemplating committing similar offenses.

Prosecution by State Attorney Omary Kibwana, assisted by Kassim Nassir and Vestina Masalu, told the Court that the duo committed the crime on December 19, 2017 at Majengo in Moshi. They told the Court that on that day, Anitha arrived at her office at PPF in Moshi in her car. Frank Moshi was the driver.

While at the office, Anitha sent an e-mail to her supervisor, asking to be excused from the day’s assignments on the pretext that she was to visit her sick mother in Arusha. She left the office for Arusha at 8:20am.

Prosecution told the Court that Anitha and Frank headed to Majengo and that was when the police started tracking down their car.

It was then that Frank sped up as police gave chase. Frank lost control and hit a wall before escaping. However, Anitha was not so lucky. A search was conducted and a total of 214.87 kilo of khat was found in the car.

Delivering the judgment, Judge Luvanda said Anitha had admitted to being the rightful owner of the car. She, however, distanced herself from the khat, insisting that the police were only framing her in the case.

Judge Luvanda ruled that Anitha’s plea of innocence could not be substantiated and that she had not even invited her mother - whom she alleged was sick in Arusha – to come to the courtroom to defend her.

“At the point where the vehicle hit the wall, Anitha was recognised by police officers identified as numbers 3 and 4. The officers called her by name and they told her not to run away. They told her that they had known her by names and that they had made use of her taxi on several occasions,” Judge Luvanda said.

After the judgment, Advocate Mkono pleaded with the court to issue a lenient punishment to his client, saying she was still young and a public servant who was entrusted with conducting PPF business in Kilimanjaro Region.

Lawyers for the second defendant, Emanuel Anthony and Esther Kibanga, also pleaded with the court for a lenient punishment on the grounds that their client had been in custody for three years already and that he was the sole family bread winner.

But State Attorney, Kassim Nassir asked the Court to issue a stern punishment to the convicts on grounds that they had threatened the lives of police officers on the day they were arrested.

He said the duo deserved a sterner punishment because they were found in possession of a huge haul of khat, a prohibited drug.

Prosecution also advanced that the duo had been telling lies throughout the period of the case, saying that signified that Anitha and Frank were most likely experienced in the trafficking of drugs.

In his judgment, Judge Luvanda issued a 30-year jail term to the convicts and ruled that the vehicle, Toyota Sienta, which was used in the incident be nationalised.