Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka-Chisepo
Court Correspondent
THREE suspected robbers accused of masquerading as Econet employees and stealing lithium batteries worth over US$90 000 from several network base stations around Harare appeared in court yesterday.
Tinashe Tinarwo, Luckmore Mhoyana and Munashe Munetsi appeared before Magistrate Jesse Kufa, facing 17 counts of unlawful entry in aggravating circumstances and were remanded in custody for a bail hearing today.
The complainant is Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, represented by Bessie Chihwaeni.
Prosecutor Ephraim Zinyandu alleged that in October 2025, Tinarwo, who was previously attached to Nytel Communications, a company contracted by Econet to install lithium batteries at network base stations around Harare, hatched a plan to steal from the sites.
The court heard that the accused persons allegedly wore reflective jackets branded “Econet” and posed as technicians from the company’s head office to gain access to the base stations.
In one of the incidents, the trio allegedly went to the Fidelity Assurance Building in Harare and falsely told security guards they had been sent to service Huawei lithium batteries installed at the base station.
Believing the explanation, security personnel granted them access to the site. The accused allegedly stole two 48-volt 100Ah lithium batteries connected to a rectifier.
In another incident that occurred between March and April this year, the trio allegedly targeted the Econet base station at the Harare Main Post Office.
The court heard they again posed as Econet employees and convinced the caretaker that they had been assigned to service the batteries.
They allegedly stole three 48-volt 100Ah lithium batteries before escaping.
The accused are also alleged to have targeted a base station at Gandabhai Building in Harare’s central business district, where they allegedly used keys to unlock a secured battery cabinet and stole three lithium batteries without being detected.
The court further heard that similar thefts were allegedly committed at the State Lottery Building along Julius Nyerere Way and at the Zimre POSB Centre along Kwame Nkrumah Avenue. At each location, the accused allegedly used the same method of posing as Econet technicians to gain the trust of caretakers and security personnel before stealing the batteries.
The stolen batteries were reportedly used to power network infrastructure at the affected base stations.
According to the State, the total value of the stolen property is US$90 000, and only batteries worth US$18 000 have been recovered so far.
