Gushungo bomb plot corporal disowned by the army

The Zimbabwe National Army has rejected claims by a corporal accused of attempting to bomb Alpha Omega Dairies that he was on an official spying mission.

This was revealed by investigating officer Nyambo Viera during the ongoing trial of Borman Ngwenya who appeared before Harare regional magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni.

Ngwenya, 30, had claimed that he was under the instruction of Major Mashava when he was arrested.

But Viera yesterday told the court that after interviewing Mashava, he was convinced that the army had not sent Ngwenya.

"When I communicated with Mashava, he distanced himself from the accused person's involvement in the plot and further explained that Ngwenya was actually under investigation for meddling in politics," Viera said.

"Mashava said the army could not have sent anyone with weaponry in the proximity of such a sensitive place. . ."

Ngwenya's lawyer Exactly Mangezi insisted his client was in communication with army bosses throughout the operation.

"The accused person had been tasked by his superiors at work . .  . to monitor and entrap Owen Kuchata whom he had developed acquaintance because they hail from the same rural home in Gokwe," Mangezi said.

"There was no intention on his part to commit acts of insurgency.

"He kept Major Mashava informed of Kuchata's activities and on the day in question my client... actually knew that they were walking into a trap."

Ngwenya further argued that charges being levelled against him were unsustainable because Alpha Omega was a private property that is not even owned by the First Family.

The share certificate presented in court alluded to Abdulah Ismail Kassim and Halima Baira as the only current shareholders in Alpha Omega holding one share each.