An Insuza villager, Gody Pedias Gumbo, appeared in court yesterday for allegedly stealing Vice-President John Nkomo’s livestock.
Gumbo (39), of Ntobi village, was not asked to plead to two counts of stocktheft when he briefly appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa. He was remanded in custody to November 9.
Prosecutor Malvern Nzombe told the court sometime in September, Gumbo allegedly stole the beasts from Nkomo’s farm, Winter Block Ranch, and exchanged them with cattle belonging to Josphat Moyo to cover up the offence.
However, on September 15, police in Insuza received a tip-off about the alleged scam and went to Bubi with Nkomo’s farm manager, Ndabazelizwe Ncube, who positively identified the beasts by their brand marks.
On being interviewed, Josphat Moyo, in whose custody the beasts were recovered, implicated Gumbo, leading to the latter’s arrest.
The recovered beasts are valued at $1 000.
In April, two former employees at VP Nkomo’s farm were convicted of stocktheft and sentenced to nine years in prison each.
