Charamba in Court for stealing and slaughtering 6 cattle

A Bulawayo man accused of stealing six cattle and selling their meat appeared in court on Wednesday to face stock theft charges.

Ignatius Charamba, 44, was represented by his lawyer, Prince Butshe of Butshe and Associates, and pleaded not guilty to the allegations. Charamba maintains that he is legally in the business of selling game meat and argued that he was selling kudu meat on the day of his arrest.

Butshe challenged the prosecution's claim that Charamba was found in possession of 240kg of meat, offals, and skins from slaughtered cattle, stating that the information was not properly recorded in Form 390, the police's Standard Operating Procedure document.

Inspector Sakson Dube, the arresting officer, stated that the stolen and slaughtered animals were classified as bovinae. However, the defence contended that the bovinae classification includes not only cattle but also kudu and buffalo, potentially creating ambiguity in the case.

Charamba was remanded in custody, with the trial set to continue on Thursday.