malvernmugadzikwa
Nyore Madzianike
EACH year, new villains join Zimbabwe’s criminal underworld. They often grab headlines for either violent crimes or daring criminal enterprises. However, as they have always done time without number, our law-enforcement agents rose to the occasion and brought to book most of the notorious criminals. We look at some of the high-profile crimes that shook the nation in 2023.
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Muvevi’s Friday the 13th killing spree
IN the Western world, Friday the 13th is eerily associated with macabre events.
It was on this day, in January 2023, that ex-police detective Jaison Muvevi shot three people dead in Hwedza.
He first fatally shot Crispen Mubvana Kanerusine of the Johanne Masowe Church at his shrine during a church service. As police trailed him, he turned the gun on Hwedza Police Station officer-in-charge Inspector Maxwell Hove, before he also shot dead a bartender, Munashe Mujanhi, at Hwedza Shopping Centre.
He then shot and critically injured Detective Constable Tendai Mugova, who was part of the team that had sought to arrest him.
Muvevi evaded capture for three days.
During this time, he also attempted to kill a man in Mutare, before he was arrested in Mozambique.
Harare magistrate Mr Dennis Mangosi has since committed Muvevi to a psychiatric hospital after two doctors who examined him agreed that he is mentally ill.
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Long arm of the law riches Ireland
Fugitive Gweru businessman Peter Dube also grabbed the headlines after he resurfaced in Ireland, where he had sought refuge.
He fled Zimbabwe in 2021 after allegedly killing two people in Gweru and seriously injuring another.
Dube allegedly fatally shot Gamuchirai Madungwe and Shelton Chinhango on suspicion his second wife Nyasha Nharingo was having an adulterous affair with the latter.
He also shot and seriously injured his second wife’s younger sister Nyaradzo, who is still nursing wounds from that attack.
Dube subsequently skipped the border and surfaced in Eswatini, where he changed his identity to Xolile Mtsali.
He later acquired a passport on October 28, 2021 using the assumed name.
Dube’s luck later ran out after an expose by The Sunday Mail, which led to his arrest.
However, in a dramatic twist of events, he was deported to Mozambique after he assumed another alias — Armando Quenete Muchanga — and claimed to be Mozambican.
Dube is presently awaiting extradition back into Zimbabwe to face a slew of charges, among them murder, attempted murder and violation of immigration laws.
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Finally, justice for Tapiwa Makore
After dragging for close to three years, the case involving the gruesome killing of seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore in September 2020 finally came to an end on July 12, when High Court Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi condemned to death the duo who were behind the murder.
Tafadzwa Shamba was convicted of murder, while the boy’s uncle, Tapiwa Makore Senior, was found to have been an accomplice after he allowed his house to be used to commit the offence.
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30 years for Moreblessing Ali’s killer
Pius Jamba Mukandi was recently sentenced to 30 years in jail for killing Moreblessing Ali in Nyatsime, Chitungwiza.
Ali went missing following a confrontation with Mukandi at a nightclub in Nyatsime on the night of May 24, 2022.
Her decomposed body was found in a well at the homestead of Mukandi’s mother after a two-week search.
Mukandi had cut her body into three pieces and stuffed them into different plastic bags, which he threw into the well.
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Armed robberies
Police dealt with a huge number of armed robbery cases this year.
Several notorious criminals, however, found themselves on the wrong end of shootouts with police detectives as they sought to evade arrest.
Recently, suspected armed robbers Jabulani Ngobeni, a South African national; and Godknows Machingura, a well-known socialite who lived a double life, were gunned down during a firefight with detectives in Harare.
Their accomplices Ndiafhi Makhado, Andrew Masubelele, Paul Zhou and Emmanuel Makamo were arrested for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and are in police custody.
Israel Zulu and David Dausi Takawira, who were linked to 10 robberies, were also shot near Manyame River as they tried to flee from detectives in October this year. They later died after being admitted to hospital.
On November 4, police fatally shot Sam Mudzuri (42) after he resisted arrest. He had been linked to the infamous Southerton robbery.
Video footage of the robbery, which occurred on October 30, went viral on social media platforms after the complainant, who was driving a Toyota Hilux vehicle, was intercepted by five suspects who were in a Honda Fit vehicle.
One of the suspects pointed a pistol at the complainant before smashing the vehicle’s windows.
They stole cash and other valuables.
The entire incident was captured on the complainant’s dashboard camera.
End of the road for Musa Taj Abdul
The year 2023 also saw a man believed to be Zimbabwe’s most notorious armed robber, Musa Taj Abdul, being convicted of 13 counts of robbery.
He is set to be sentenced on January 5, 2024.
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Big catch
A number of high-profile figures found out that the law is really blind.
Former Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development Terrence Mukupe is currently behind bars after he was sentenced last month to three years in jail for smuggling more than 138 000 litres of diesel in 2017.
Comedienne Felistas Murata, better known as Mai Titi in the entertainment industry, also served time after being sentenced to an effective nine months in jail for fraud and theft of trust property in June this year.
She was, however, released in November after she was cleared of some of the charges.
Zimbabwe Miners Federation president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya was fined US$5 000 on November 15 for trying to smuggle six kilogrammes of gold to the United Arab Emirates in December 2020.
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War on drugs
In February this year, police launched a nationwide campaign against drugs and substance abuse.
Dubbed “No to dangerous drugs and illicit substances: See something, say something”, the operation is still continuing and has led to the arrest of thousands of drug peddlers and their kingpins.
The Government has thrown its full weight behind the blitz, with an inter-ministerial committee working with other stakeholders to enforce the crackdown and offer rehabilitation services to victims of drug abuse.
A fortnight ago, police named and shamed at least 70 drug and substance peddlers. This was in line with the Government’s efforts to combat the scourge of drug and substance abuse, particularly among the youths.
Online Reporter