Wema Sepetu’s troubles deepen as court orders her arrest
A court in Dar es Salaam has ordered the immediate arrest of famous Bongo movie actress Wema Sepetu after she went against bond terms.
Kisutu Resident Magistrate Maira Kasonde delivered the judgment on Tuesday morning after the controversial former Miss Tanzania failed to appear in court for the hearing of a case where she is facing charges of being found in possession of 1.80 grams of marijuana.
Kasonde made the ruling after the government prosecutor Silyia Mitanto argued that the accused failed to appear in court on Tuesday as required by the terms of the bond, on a day the witness was to be cross-examined.
‘FELL ILL’
Wema’s lawyer, Ruben Simwanza, however, argued that her client arrived for the hearing but was forced to leave the court’s premises after she suddenly fell ill.
But the magistrate didn’t find the submission by the lawyer to be satisfactory as indicated in the ruling.
“Kama amekuja mahakamani halafu akaondoka bila kutoa taarifa, mahakama itajuaje kama alikuja? Alishindwa nini kutoa taarifa mahakamani,” Kasonde wondered before issuing warrant of arrest.
Kasonde also set new dates for another mentioning of the case to July 4, 2019.
BAIL CONDITIONS
The case has been dragging since 2017 when Wema was first accused of being found in possession of the illegal drug.
This was after the police conducted a search at her house then located in Kunduchi-Ununio where they found the narcotics.
She was then arraigned in court alongside her two househelp Angelina Msigwa and Mr Selemani Abbas where they denied the charges and were released after fulfilling the bail conditions.
Each of them was required to have two sureties, who were supposed to sign a Sh5 million bond.