ZANU PF Official, Kudzanai Chipanga, Arrested
ZANU PF official Kudzanai Chipanga appeared before Rusape Magistrates Court on Tuesday, facing charges of theft.
Chipanga, a former ZANU PF Youth Secretary, is accused of stealing Presidential Pfumvudza inputs worth US$11,200 from the Department of Agriculture Research and Extension (AREX) in Makoni District.
He appeared before Rusape regional magistrate Barbra Mateko, who remanded him on US$400 bail to January 30.
Prosecutors did not oppose the granting of bail to the ZANU PF official, unlike opposition members who are often held in pre-trial detention for extended periods, sometimes up to 12 months or more.
Chipanga was ordered to reside at his Wakefield Farm in Headlands, report on Monday and Friday every week at Rusape Rural Police Station until the end of his trial, and not interfere with witnesses or investigations.
He was represented by Mutare lawyer Chris Ndlovu of Gonese and Ndlovu Legal Practitioners, while Event Dhliwayo prosecuted.
Allegations are that on November 27, AREX received 200x50kg bags of ZFC Compound D fertilisers, 100x5kg of SC649 seed maize, and 500 packets of vegetable seed from the Grain Marketing Board Rusape Depot, meant for distribution in Ward 38 in Headlands under the Pfumvudza programme.
The inputs were loaded into a MAN truck (AFJ 6795), driven by Trust Mangwanda, who ferried the inputs to Lawrencedale Primary School, where there was a ZANU PF star rally.
Dhliwayo alleged that after the rally, Chipanga and his alleged accomplices, Innocent Magutakuona, Michael Musekiwa, and Julius Chipfupa, who are still at large, told Noria Gashu of AREX that they would share and distribute the inputs to the people, claiming they had sourced the inputs.
More: Pindula News
