Hwange man steals cow to raise lobola

A 57-YEAR-OLD Hwange man from from Madumabisa Village in recently shocked the courts when he claimed that he had stolen a beast to raise money for his wife, whom his in-laws had taken after demanding lobola for her return.

Patrick Dube of A6 Madumabisa in Hwange, who was jointly charged with Peter Tshola Phiri (51) of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty when they appeared before Hwange magistrate, Miss Lindiwe Maphosa, facing a charge of stock theft as defined in section 114 of Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act).

According to Sunday News, state prosecutor, Mr Tinomupeyi Mbiza, told the court that on 22 January, Peter Sibanda's livestock minder, Moffat Ngwenya, took his cattle for grazing to Matafala grazing area in Madumabisa. Later in the evening as he drove them back home he noticed that there was one cow missing from the herd and alerted his employer of the development.

A search for the missing cow was conducted and it was during the search at Matafala grazing area in Madumabisa that Sibanda discovered meat hanging from a tree branch. A closer inspection of the meat which seemed to have been prepared for drying led Sibanda to conclude that it was indeed the missing cow.

The court further heard that Sibanda then mobilised two of his friends and set an ambush close to the site. At around 1am, Phiri arrived at the scene to check on the meat. While he was inspecting the meat Sibanda and his team pounced on unsuspecting Phiri who recovered quickly from the shock before fleeing from the scene with Sibanda in pursuit.

They managed to apprehend Phiri whom they interrogated and in the process he implicated his partner Dube. He was taken to police in Hwange leading to the arrest of Dube. Dube shocked the court when he claimed that he had committed the offence to raise money for his wife who had been taken by his in-laws.

"Your worship I know I did wrong by stealing the beast but I did it so that I could raise some money to get back my wife who was staying with my in-laws. I wanted her back so badly such that I didn't think it through properly especially the consequences of my action," he said.

Meanwhile, when asked why he had committed the offence, Phiri said he had been forced to steal the beast by Dube. The magistrate found them guilty as charged and sentenced the two to nine years imprisonment each.

However, in passing her sentence, the magistrate took into consideration that Dube had a suspended sentence for an offence involving unlawful entry and theft before slapping him with an additional six months meaning he will serve nine years and six months behind bars.