HARARE – Suspected gold smuggler Henrietta Rushwaya has been reinstated as president of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) after her purported suspension was lifted.
The 54-year-old was arrested in October last year accused of trying to smuggle 6kg of gold onto a flight to Dubai at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
The federation which represents small-scale miners announced it had suspended her after she appeared in court charged with smuggling, before her release on bail.
But following a meeting of the federation’s national executive at Rainbow Towers Hotel on Tuesday, Rushwaya was reinstated after her suspension was deemed unconstitutional.
Only the national executive, and not the management committee, has power to suspend her, the members said.
A motion moved by Daniel Chitenje to reinstate Rushwaya was adopted unanimously, a spokesman said.
Rushwaya, who is out on bail, is charged alongside half a dozen others including security officers who allegedly assist her to waltz through the airport with the gold stashed in her handbag.
The former Zimbabwe Football Association CEO told a court that she picked the wrong handbag.
