Four Harare cattle rustlers were slapped with a 54-year-jail term each by a Guruve magistrate after being convicted of stealing eight head of cattle from Chagadama grazing areas in Guruve.
The cattle rustling syndicate was busted early this month by Guruve police after they tracked down a suspicious Harare taxi that had been visiting the area frequently.
Early this month, police officers manning a roadblock at Mpinge Store along Mvurwi-Guruve Road signalled the suspicious taxi to stop, but Tinei Chiriseri (25), Simon Takura Musakwa (32) Dickson Sapangwa (31) and Francis Mupanda (28), who were aboard the vehicle, defied the police instruction and drove past the officers at high speed.
The officers gave chase, but failed to catch up with the rustlers until they got to another roadblock along Mvurwi-Mutorashanga Road, where they were again signalled to stop, but refused to do so.
This time the police pursued them for about 85km and fired shots at the taxi thereby deflating the front tyre, but the rustlers could not be deterred.
They drove another two kilometres while the police officers were in hot pursuit and when the police fired another shot, it hit the driver’s door prompting the driver to lose control of the vehicle and it landed in a ditch.
Upon being arrested the four men were found in possession of 373kg of beef and 5kg liver.
Chiriseri, Musakwa, Sapangwa and Mupanda were interrogated and admitted stealing eight head of cattle from Chibondo, Dzukamanja and Chikonyora grazing areas.
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They all pleaded guilty when they appeared before Guruve provincial magistrate Augustine Borerwe. Asked how they slaughtered the beasts, they said they would suffocate the animals using plastic.
In passing sentence Borerwe said: “The accused carried out a series of stocktheft in Guruve area having come all the way from Harare for this purpose. The community itself has not only been shocked, but disgusted at the manner in which the offences were committed.
“Cattle are a symbol of wealth and to steal and slaughter people’s cattle in the manner described is unforgivable.”
The rustlers will, however, serve an effective 46-year-jail terms each after eight years were suspended on condition of good behaviour.
