A Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) officer attached to the Artillery Brigade allegedly acted in cahoots with a civilian masquerading as a soldier and robbed a Harare man of his commuter omnibus two weeks ago.
REPORT BY CHARLES LAITON SENIOR COURT REPORTER
The alleged bogus soldier, Clive Mufumira (30), is said to have used the stolen vehicle to ply City-Mabvuku route while clad in army regalia.
But Mufumira’s luck ran out on Friday last week when the stolen commuter omnibus was spotted by the owner’s friend, one Walter Musumbu, who went on to inform the owner, leading to Mufumira’s arrest.
However, Mufumira did not go down without a fight as he took to his heels dressed in army uniform immediately after the commuter omnibus was intercepted in the city centre.
Despite his spirited attempt to outrun his pursuers, Mufumira was eventually apprehended by members of the public and handed over to the police whereupon he implicated his co-accused Andrew Sombi (32).
Mufumira and Sombi were not asked to plead when they appeared before Harare magistrate Donald Ndirowei charged with robbery of a motor vehicle.
They were remanded in custody to October 30 and advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
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Allegations against the pair are that on October 3 they approached Tonderai Charakupa who was loading his commuter omnibus at corner Leopold Takawira and Speke Avenue, in Harare.
Both men were clad in army uniforms despite Mufumira not being a member of the uniformed forces.
Mufumira allegedly ordered Charakupa to move to the passenger seat as he took charge of the vehicle, while Sombi posed as a passenger.
They drove towards Jason Moyo Avenue where they picked up three other men, also dressed in army regalia and another in civilian attire.
They allegedly threatened Charakupa with assault, but while driving in the city centre, Charakupa took advantage of the slow-moving traffic, jumped out of the commuter omnibus and reported the matter at Harare Central Police Station.
Apparently the robbers got away with the vehicle and allegedly started using it after removing its bumper to avoid detection.
