onlinemedia
Yeukai Karengezeka‑Chisepo
Court Correspondent
A man from Kuwadzana who was recently released from prison under the Presidential Amnesty programme has found himself back behind bars after being convicted of motor vehicle theft.
Tafadzwa Ronald Nemadziva (34) was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Harare regional magistrate Mr Lazini Ncube after being found guilty of stealing a motor vehicle.
The court heard that Nemadziva, who had been serving time for two previous counts of motor vehicle theft before his release, wasted no time in committing a similar offence shortly after regaining his freedom.
The victim, Charles Manhuna (23), a kombi driver, recounted how Nemadziva befriended him before executing the crime. Prosecutor Mr Zvikomborero Mupasa told the court that on March 13, 2026, at around 9:45am, Manhuna stopped his purple Nissan Caravan at the Flyover along Simon Mazorodze Road in Harare to pick up passengers heading to Budiriro.
Nemadziva boarded the vehicle and quickly gained Manhuna’s trust by pretending to be a police officer. Later, upon arriving at Budiriro 5 High School, another man, Alexious Chari, approached Manhuna requesting a private hire to transport children from Elebirds Pre‑School to Robert Mugabe International Airport for a school trip.
Manhuna agreed to the request. While offloading passengers, Nemadziva insisted on remaining in the vehicle, claiming he could assist Manhuna and his conductor, Tinashe Ngaliwe, in avoiding police roadblocks along the way.
The trio drove to the airport, where Manhuna parked his vehicle in the car park. He handed his keys to Chari—who was seated in another vehicle with some of the children—asking him to keep an eye on the kombi and move it if necessary.
The three men then decided to take a walk around the airport, leaving the vehicle in Chari’s custody.
Nemadziva later pretended to be bored and told the complainant he would return to the parking area to wait in their vehicle.
Manhuna left his conductor behind and boarded another commuter bus from the airport to town, to collect his cellphone.
Taking advantage of his absence, Nemadziva approached Chari and falsely claimed that the complainant had sent him to buy drinks from nearby shops. Trusting the story, Chari handed over the vehicle keys—and Nemadziva drove the vehicle away.
Ngaliwe, the conductor, saw the vehicle being driven off and immediately informed Chari, who explained how he had been deceived. The complainant was alerted and quickly contacted the vehicle owner, Stain Guduza.
Using the vehicle’s tracking system, they discovered that it was being driven towards Mazowe Road.
The complainant, together with detectives from CID Vehicle Theft Squad (VTS) Harare, tracked the vehicle to a police roadblock at the 45km peg on the Centenary–Harare Road. They informed officers at the roadblock, who apprehended the accused and recovered the stolen vehicle.
Both Nemadziva and the recovered vehicle were taken to ZRP RGM Airport, where the complainant filed an official report.
The matter was then referred to CID VTS Harare for further investigation. The stolen vehicle, valued at US$18 000, was fully recovered.
Online Reporter