Former First Lady Grace Mugabe reportedly became emotional in court when presented with belongings of her late husband, Robert Mugabe, during the theft trial of her former employees, according to NewZimbabwe.com.
The trial, taking place at the Harare Magistrates Court, involves five defendants: Tendai Nyamudze, Allen Chinamonya, Danmore Chinamonya, Samson Karonga, and Brighton Bunganirwa. The accused face charges of stealing various items, including a plated table fork, a book titled Robert Mugabe at 90, a copy of Mugabe’s 1994 National People’s Congress speech, a discussion paper from a Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting, as well as handbags and other personal items.
Grace Mugabe claims that the stolen items are valued at approximately US$3.5 million, although court documents list the total value at US$500,000. Her emotional response to seeing the items in court prompted the magistrate to briefly adjourn the proceedings.
She explained to the court that in 2017, the Mugabe family moved from an old residence owned by ZANU PF to their new home, Blue Roof, using four containers to store their belongings. Grace became aware of the alleged theft in 2022, upon her return from Singapore, when her brother Winston Marufu informed her. This led her to file a police report.
Grace denied the defendants’ claims that the items were gifts from her late husband. She stated that in May, during an inspection of the containers, she discovered that several locks had been broken and many items were missing. She recalled that one of the accused was caught with chest drawers. Grace also emphasized that her late husband had not given such gifts to the accused, particularly when other long-serving employees had not received similar treatment.
Grace identified one of the accused based on their history of theft during her time as an employer. Prosecutor Oscar Madhume said that when Grace inspected the containers on May 22, 2024, she found several items missing, leading to an investigation. As a result, goods worth approximately US$2,000 were recovered from two of the defendants, Allen and Danmore, including men’s suits and a Sony television.
Samson Karonga was arrested at the scene and reportedly had trouble providing satisfactory answers during police questioning. Additionally, Brighton Bunganirwa was noted to have a prior conviction for a similar offense involving Grace in 2022.
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