HARARE – The state’s case against Zanu PF politburo member Andy Mhlanga, accused of smuggling US$78,880 worth of T-shirts into the country, has fallen apart – not in a blaze of courtroom drama, but through prosecutors’ repeated failure to get it to trial.

Harare regional magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa on Thursday ordered Mhlanga, a former secretary of the war veterans association, removed from remand after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) again failed to put him on trial. His co-accused walked free of remand with him.

Mhlanga was arrested alongside nine others, among them his son Perfect, over claims that 17.6 tonnes of T-shirts were slipped into Zimbabwe under the guise of agricultural imports.

The NPA alleged the consignment was dressed up as duty-exempt drip irrigation equipment, leaving the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) prejudiced of US$78,880 in potential duty.

According to the state, Jeed Investments (Pvt) Ltd bought 1,066 cartons of T-shirts from Slovenia in October 2024, and the shipment reached Mozambique’s Port of Beira in February 2025. The paperwork was then allegedly doctored so the goods could be cleared without a physical inspection, before being trucked to Mhlanga’s Bramfield Farm in Nyabira.

Also in the dock were Jethro Mavangwa, a director of Jeed Investments; clearing agent Peter Ndamba; Rufaro Nenyasha; Norest Chiureki Marara; ZIMRA revenue officers Brian Simbachako and Alford Toruvanda; and truck driver Tony Chisuse.

Police raids reportedly recovered boxes of T-shirts from Mhlanga’s son in Westgate, Harare.

But the prosecution’s case never gathered momentum, and the accused were removed from remand.

Prosecutors did not describe the T-shirts or explain why they were being imported.