The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
“DON’T let a thief into your house three times. The first time was enough. The second time was a chance. The third time means you are stupid,” reckoned C. JoyBell C.
Perhaps the courts need to be mindful of this old adage when dealing with armed robbers.
Early this month, the nation woke up to the terrifying news of a How Mine armed robbery heist during which some habitual robbers got away with four guns and 11, 9 kilogrammes of gold worth US$450 000.
Brothers Elijah and Abraham Vumbunu, who are now wanted for the recent How Mine robbery, have served time before.
This duo committed one of the country’s biggest heists of all time as part of a 13-men team that hit three cash-in-transit vehicles carrying gold to Fidelity Printers.
Only four years ago, Elijah was released from prison on $50 bail pending his appeal against conviction and a 40-year sentence after he and his gang had stormed Mutare Parts Centre in September 2003 and made good their escape with Zimbabwean and United States dollars, collectively valued at $40 million.
Mutare businessman, Mr Ian Mahara vividly recalls the events of that September 2003 afternoon when four armed robbers stormed their Nyakamete Industrial Park Mutare Parts Centre offices.
“It was the least we expected on that September afternoon. Four armed robbers just stormed into our offices, pointed their guns at us and demanded cash.
“We had no option, but to hand over all the cash we had. I recall that the incident almost forced us out of business, but somehow God was on our side and we managed to recoup from that unexpected loss,” said Mr Mahara.
He narrated how they tried to chase after the robbers, all to no avail.
“I remember we gave chase moments after they had left our premises, asking people along the road which direction their car had taken.
“We went past Madziro Butchery along the Mutare-Chimanimani Road and got police back-up at a nearby roadblock. When we got to Chakohwa Business Centre, we discovered that they were in the midst of another robbery at a shop.
“There was an exchange of gunfire and they somehow managed to escape again. It was a painful experience that we will never forget,” said the soft spoken Mutare entrepreneur.
Fast forward 20 years later, the same robbers are still wrecking havoc in our community.
They have engaged in all forms of criminal activities, including theft, carjacking, stealing from motor vehicles and armed robberies.
Our sister paper, The Sunday News, unearthed that Nehemiah Temai Vumbunu is the oldest of this brood of criminal minds and is believed to have stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of cars and property during a crime spree that ended when he was shot together with his suspected armed robbery accomplice, Jabulani Quinton Sibanda.
But before he died seven years ago, the older Vumbunu roped in his younger siblings, Elijah, Abraham and Naison, also known as Takafa.
The trio has continued to pull heists well after the death of their mentor.
Without being granted bail, Elijah was due to be released in 2026 after completing his jail term.
Elijah’s sibling, Abraham, was also recently released from prison where he was serving time for armed robbery.
The third brother, Takafa alias Naison, is currently serving a 62-year sentence as he and his cohorts were arrested on August 4, 2015 after they had waylaid two security vehicles transporting about 6,5kg of gold from a mine to Fidelity Printers in Harare.
Takafa and 11 other members of his gang was convicted of eight counts of armed robbery and contravening the Firearms and Explosives Act.
At the time, our sister publication, The Chronicle reported that the gang had gone to the mine in four different cars without registration plates.
At the time, the gang was armed with six pistols, an AK-47 assault rifle, axes, iron bars and two sets of spikes as they prepared to attack the Safeguard Security company cash-in-transit vehicles.
When the gang was about two kilometres from the mine, they saw the vehicles approaching and threw spikes on the road in a bid to deflate the tyres.
When the victims saw the spikes and realised they were in danger, they tried to reverse the vehicles but the gang quickly moved in and deflated the vehicle tyres.
The gang emerged from the bush wearing face masks and opened fire on the security vehicles.
As the area was turned into a battlefield, the gang allegedly used axes, hammers and crowbars to smash the front screen and side windows of the armoured vehicle carrying the gold, but the crew did not surrender.
The driver of the escort Toyota Hilux lost control of the vehicle and rammed into a tree, but the gang kept firing at the stationary vehicle randomly.
On the other hand, the security crew returned fire, resulting in one of the gang members being shot.
The armed robbers realised they had lost the battle and drove away in their getaway truck which they later abandoned about 20 kilometres from the scene, leaving some bloodstains on the passenger door.
Fortunately, during the commission of the offence, images of some of the gang members were captured by surveillance cameras fitted on the two armoured vehicles, leading to the positive identification of the suspects by the police.
The blood trail that was left behind was also taken for forensic examination and it matched one of the suspects, whose wounds were concluded to have been inflicted by a gunshot.
Police later pounced on the gang at their hide-out at a 22-roomed farmhouse in Darwendale near Harare.
