Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka-Chisepo
Court Correspondent
A Harare gardener has appeared in court facing charges of stealing elephant tusks from his employer.
Farai Matenderuke (39) was arraigned before Harare magistrate Ms Lisah Mutendereki on allegations of theft involving two marked elephant tusks weighing 5.35 kilogrammes and valued at US$909,50.
He pleaded guilty and will be sentenced today.
The State, represented by prosecutor Ms Polite Chikiwa, alleges that in March 2024, Matenderuke discovered hidden ivory in a wardrobe at his employer’s residence in Borrowdale, Harare, where he was working as a gardener.
Taking advantage of being alone on the premises, Matenderuke allegedly stole the tusks and hid them under a tree trunk outside the property’s security wall.
The court heard that after leaving his job and relocating to Greystone Park, where he secured new employment as a gardener, Matenderuke later returned to Borrowdale to retrieve the hidden ivory.
He allegedly took the tusks to his new workplace and began searching for potential buyers.
On April 19, 2026, detectives from CID Highlands, acting on a tip-off that Matenderuke was attempting to sell ivory, deployed a decoy operation at Chisipite Business Centre. An undercover officer posing as a buyer met the accused and requested to see the tusks.
Matenderuke allegedly led the detective to his residence in Greystone Park, where he produced the tusks, which were wrapped in a black plastic bag and hidden in a corner of his bedroom. The ivory, bearing serial numbers, was recovered.
It was later weighed and valued by Henry Chikonangombe, who confirmed that the two tusks weighed 5.35 kilogrammes and were worth US$909,50.
Peter Tanyanyiwa