adminMarvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
THREE Gwanda men have appeared in court for allegedly stealing 20 head of cattle worth $10,000 from a local farm before selling them to villagers.
Mackson Moyo, 35, Emmanuel Moyo, 36, and Ngqondo Mpofu, 25, were arraigned before magistrate Arafat Kozanai to answer to stock theft charges.
The trio, through their lawyer Thompson Mabhikwa, denied stealing the 20 beasts from Georgia Farm.
They told the court the cattle they sold belonged to them.The magistrate remanded them in custody to today for judgment.
The complainant is Patrick Dube, who is employed as a herdsman at Georgia Farm.
The prosecutor, Takunda Mafudze, said the trio committed the offence in August this year.
“Sometime in August 2015, the accused persons went to Georgia Farm and stole 20 head of cattle comprising weaners and steers and went away unnoticed.
“They sold them to Mtshazo villagers,” said Mafudze.
He said police acting on a tip off arrested Mackson and Emmanuel. The two, he said, led the police to Pauline Mlandu’s homestead where police recovered two heifers and one steer sold to her by the accused persons.
“The accused persons further led the police officers to Rachel Khumalo’s homestead and police officers managed to recover one heifer and one steer also sold to her by the accused persons,” said the prosecutor.
He said the duo finally led the police to Elson Siziba’s homestead for the recovery of another heifer and a steer.
Mafudze told the court that Dube positively identified the recovered beasts by the brand mark G. The duo implicated Mpofu leading to his arrest.
Further allegations are that the villagers who bought the stolen beasts confirmed that Mpofu was present when they were being sold.
Police recovered cattle worth $3,500.
Online Reporter