Incarcerated RMG leader, Robert Martin Gumbura, who is serving a 40-year jail term for raping some female congregants, is said to have been operating a private office at the Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, where he allegedly hired bodyguards and a secretary, a court heard yesterday.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
The revelations were made by a State witness, Claudius Mutizwa, who was giving evidence in a matter in which Gumbura is being accused of masterminding a jailbreak, which was thwarted by alert prison officials last year.
Mutizwa was continuing with his evidence-in-chief in a case where Gumbura and eight other inmates are accused of attempting to escape from prison.
He made the revelations under cross-examination by Gumbura’s, lawyer Tapson Dzvetero.
Mutizwa also said Gumbura had, between December 2014 and March this year, smuggled 960 cartons of cigarettes that he dished out to prisoners and wardens.
Asked how he knew the quantity of the said cigarettes, Mutizwa said he was a friend to the shamed cleric’s secretary, David Mwanjira, whom he sometimes assisted in recording Gumbura’s goods.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“He had a large corner, his base, where he used to stay with his bodyguards and his secretary. He had a secretary, who would record his goods,” Mutizwa said.
He said he also kept three sacks of cartons of cigarettes for Gumbura in the library’s “B” Hall section, where he used to work.
Asked how many cartons were in the three sacks, he said he did not remember, to which Dzvetero accused him of giving false information.
“How can you say you do not remember how many bricks were in your sacks, but you remember the exact amount that came over a period from December to March?” he asked.
“How did you get to know what was recorded by his secretary? Were you his assistant?”
Mutizwa answered: “I used to stay with his secretary and sometimes, I would assist him.”
Mutizwa said he witnessed the last part of the smuggling process and he had also witnessed most of Gumbura’s illegal dealings since they were done in the library, where he (Mutizwa) worked.
Harare magistrate Francis Mapfumo is presiding over the matter and the case was rolled over to Monday next week for continuation.
