The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa Post Correspondent
THE long arm of the law finally caught up with a traditional healer who last year provided lucky charms to a 10-member gang of robbers that pounced on a Nyanga house and escaped with gold worth US$81 000, 13 000 Mozambican meticais and ZWL$449.
The traditional healer, Persuade Maponga (45), was arrested together with three accomplices – Reason Maponga (47), Tendai Fungai (27) and Godfrey Nyoromore (44).
Other accomplices, only identified as Christopher Nyakudya, Madzibaba, Jenny, Moyo and two drivers, are still on the run.
Maponga and the three other suspects last Thursday appeared before senior Nyanga magistrate Ms Anniah Ndiraya facing robbery charges as defined in Section 126 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
They were remanded in custody to today for trial. Mr Cuthbert Bhosha prosecuted.
It is alleged that on September 14, 2019, Maponga, who is a well-known traditional healer, enlisted the services of his brother Reason, Fungai and Njoromore, to rob a Nyanga gold buyer, Raymond Chari. They teamed up with the other gang members who are still at large.
After agreeing that Maponga would get part of the robbery spoils, the traditional healer allegedly provided lucky charms for the gang members.
“That night, the gang drove to Ruwangwe Growth Point using two vehicles – a silver BMW and a silver Nissan X-Trail. Upon arrival at around 10pm, Fungai showed his accomplices the complainant’s house.
“They all returned to their parked vehicles and at around midnight, the eight men went back to the premises, leaving the drivers behind. Five of them jumped over the precast wall, while Maponga and Njoromore remained on guard outside the house,” said Mr Bhosha.
He further alleged that the five men who are still at large chased Chari’s dog away and opened the gate for the two who had remained outside.
“They used a hammer to break the dining room door and gain entrance into the house. While inside, they used the same weapon to break the bedroom door.
“Chari was trying to open his gun cabinet and they tripped him to the ground. They then tied up his hands and legs, and gagged his mouth, before assaulting him and demanding cash.”
It is said one of the suspects produced a knife and threatened to disembowel Chari’s wife, Hazvinei Hapaori, if she failed to reveal the location of the keys to the safe.
“Fearing for her life, Hapaori showed them the keys,” said Mr Bhosha.
The gang then stole three nuggets of processed gold weighing 1 800 grammes (worth US$81 000), $449 and 13 000 Mozambican meticais from the safe.
After ransacking the whole house, they allegedly stole a Samsung A6 cellphone, a G-Tel MX5 cellphone, two Itel phones, car keys to a Toyota Mark X and a commuter omnibus.
They then fled from the scene.
The following day, two of the stolen phones and vehicle keys were found dumped outside the complainant’s house.
Investigations led to the arrest of the Maponga brothers in Harare. They implicated Fungai and Njoromore.
