Farmers accused of stealing Mugabe's cattle

ZANU-PF'S suspended Manicaland chairman Mike Madiro should not be on trial accused of stock theft, his lawyer said on Tuesday as he pointed an accusing finger at a Chipinge farmer who sold 10 cows to Zanu-PF for President Robert Mugabe's birthday celebrations.

The 10 beasts, bought for $5,000 last year, were never delivered. Instead, farmer John Chirimambowa told a Mutare magistrate that Madiro had told him to "wait".

Madiro's deputy, Dorothy Mabika, also on trial, had later directed that three cows be slaughtered for a Zanu-PF inter-district meeting unconnected to birthday celebrations for Mugabe's 88th birthday in February last year.

But defence lawyer Tinofara Hove, cross-examining Chirimambowa, said it was in fact him who should be on trial.

"You are the thief, you kept the Zanu-PF cattle, yet you were given the money. You wanted to steal them... You also stole 75 litres of diesel which you were given to transport the cattle to Mutare, but you did not do so," the lawyer charged.

Chirimambowa told the court that he was following instructions from Madiro which were conveyed to him through the party's provincial administrator, Angawacha Nelia Maenda, to "stay put with the cattle in Chipinge until further notice".

"I could not defy orders," he said.

Chirimambowa confirmed that Supa Mandiwanzira, who was then the party's deputy secretary for finance, paid him $5,000 for the 10 beasts and was given 75 litres of fuel to ferry the cattle from Chipinge to Mutare.

He said all was going smoothly, but problems arose in Chipinge at the veterinary offices after he was told that it was not possible to transport the 10 cattle from a red zone area, infested with livestock diseases, to a green zone area in Odzi.

"They said the cattle had to be slaughtered first and transported as carcasses," Chirimambowa said. "They also told me that if I wanted to ferry them to Odzi alive, they would brand them with an 'S' mark which entailed that the cattle had to be slaughtered as soon as I got to Odzi.

"I told Madiro of the development and he told me to wait."
 
Chirimambowa confirmed he was still keeping the cattle, save for the three beasts which Mabika ordered to be slaughtered.
 
The farmer said he did not want to benefit anything from the cattle but would keep them safe until Zanu-PF collects them.

Instead of accusing him of being a thief, he said the provincial leadership, specifically Madiro, was at fault because he gave him orders to keep the cattle, yet he knew the livestock belonged to the party.

Hove, who charged Monday as the trial opened that Madiro and Mabika were facing a political prosecution, then accused Chirimambowa of being part of a Zanu-PF faction out to settle a score with Madiro and Mabika. He made the same charge against Zanu-PF's secretary for administration and Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus Mutasa, who took the stand on Monday.

But Chirimambowa insisted he had no axe to grind with Madiro as he replied: "It's your personal opinion. If you knew how Madiro rose to power, it's because of me."

Prosecutor Jane-Rose Matsikidze then called the party's provincial administrator, Angawacha Nelia Maenda to the stand.

Maenda told the court that Mabika, who is the acting chairperson following Madiro's suspension, instructed her to amend minutes of a provincial meeting held in December last year to the effect that the issue of the missing cattle had been discussed in the meeting yet it had not come up for discussion.

The trial continues.