Rushwaya to be sentenced tomorrow
Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) President Ms Henrietta Rushwaya who is accused of attempting to smuggle 6kg of gold will be sentenced tomorrow at 14:30hrs, Mining Zimbabwe has learnt.
Rushwaya had been remanded to today (14 November 2023) for sentencing at the anti-corruption court at the High Court in Harare as the state waited for submission of evidence from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and ZIMRA on how much the state was prejudiced.
As directed by the courts, ZIMRA and RBZ today submitted the required evidence and the judge announced that the ZMF leader will be sentenced tomorrow.
The court established that the gold Rushwaya was convicted for trying to smuggle belonged to her which might imply that the state could have been prejudiced by 1 per cent of the Gold translating to a total of US$3 300.
According to the law gold produced by small miners attract a 1 per cent royalty (for the first 0.5 kgs of gold delivered to a holder of a gold licence in a calendar month); 1 per cent (if the gold is delivered by a holder of a gold-buying agency permit to a holder of a gold-dealing licence in a calendar month), 2 percent (if the gold delivered to a holder of a gold dealing licence in a calendar month exceeds 0.5 kgs). And Gold produced by other miners attracts 3 percent (if the gold produced by them is sold at a time when its price is below US$1,200 per ounce) 5 percent (if the gold produced by them is sold at a time when its price is above US$1,200 per ounce).
Meanwhile ASGold Producers will now be paid as their large scale counterparts who get 75% of their payment in US dollars and the remaining 25% in local currency.