Five men from South Africa are on trial in Harare, accused of being hired hitmen tasked with kidnapp!ng, ass@ulting, and potentially kill!ng a well-known businessman, Oliver Tendai Chipindu.
This all stemmed from a failed $800,000 deal involving gas tankers.
The accused are Moses Monde, Malvin Manzinde, Malvin Tatenda Nyamuranga, Norbert Muponda, and Joshua Mapuranga. They have all pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to k!dnap and ass@ult Chipindu.
The case involves a dispute between Chipindu and Obrian Obert Mapurisa, who was supposed to buy gas tankers from Turkey using Chipindu’s $800,000.
However, Mapurisa only paid part of the money and misled Chipindu about the deal’s status. When Chipindu realised the full amount hadn’t been paid, Mapurisa tried to reassure him but eventually fell short, leading Chipindu to seek legal action.
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Under pressure from Chipindu, Mapurisa allegedly decided to have him kidn@pped and ass@ulted. He supposedly hired the five men, giving them Chipindu’s address and picture. The men traveled to Zimbabwe with pistols but couldn’t find Chipindu since he was in Turkey. They later returned to South Africa to regroup.
When Chipindu came back to Zimbabwe, he was informed by his friend, Bernard Chiweshe, that there was a plot against him. Chipindu then alerted the police. On March 19, he and Chiweshe lured the accused back to Zimbabwe under false pretenses and had them arrested at a lodge.
The police found evidence on their phones connecting them to Mapurisa.
The accused, through their lawyer, deny any wrongdoing. They claim they were misled by Chiweshe, who told them the job was different from what they were actually hired for. They also say they were pressured into pleading guilty to charges they didn’t commit and that they never had any weapons.
The state prosecutor, Ephraim Zinyandu, called Chiweshe to testify. Chiweshe said he received a tip that the accused were hired to k!ll Chipindu but didn’t know them before this.
The trial was briefly delayed due to the accused’s attempt to remove the magistrate, Stanford Mambanje, from the case. Mambanje dismissed their request, finding no evidence of bias.
The trial will continue this Friday, and the outcome will decide the future of the five accused, who face serious charges.
