By Staff Reporter | ZimLive |
CONCESSION — Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the son of the late former President Robert Mugabe, was granted US$200 bail Tuesday by the Concession Magistrates Court after spending a night in remand prison on multiple assault charges stemming from two violent incidents in Mazowe.
Mugabe allegedly directed a brutal attack on five security guards at Ultimate Mine in Mazowe on June 25, accusing them harbouring artisanal miners who were trespassing on their neighbouring farm.
But it was not until June 30 that he was arrested after allegedly assaulting a school groundsman believed to be connected to home affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe, who is in charge of police.
In the second incident Mugabe, 28, along with his two bodyguards, Tinashe Mupawo, 40, and Brenan Mateko, 26, and others still at large allegedly attacked Jorum Ngirazi, a 38-year-old groundsman at Annaph Secondary School near Mazowe Inn.
Ngirazi had approached the trio while looking for a Grabber truck to transport gold ore but was told not to come any closer. As he turned away to leave, one of the men allegedly grabbed him by the collar.
The court heard that Mugabe reportedly slapped him in the face, and the bodyguards joined in. Ngirazi’s Huawei Nova 8 mobile phone was kicked after it hit the ground.
Ngirazi did not suffer visible injuries but later reported a persistent headache.
The earlier incident, at Ultimate Mine, involved the alleged assault of five security guards who the assailants accused of failing to act against trespassers who entered former first lady Grace Mugabe’s nearby farm.
The victims — Ntandoyokuza Nyati, Philip Chipara, Elvis Bvumbe, Collen Muchemwa and Waddington Mutadza — were reportedly attacked with booted feet, fists, iron bars, logs and water by Mugabe and his associates. A gun shot was fired.
Nyati was allegedly struck with a log and an iron bar and had water poured on him.
Bvumbe was beaten with a baton stick, a horse pipe and an iron bar. The other victims were also reportedly slapped, kicked and struck with blunt object and sustained severe injuries including fractured skulls, broken hands, scarred backs and internal injuries.
Police summoned Mugabe to Mazowe Police Station following the mine assault, where he is alleged to have declared, “I’m the real President’s son. I’m untouchable.”
The prosecution did not oppose bail. His co-accused, Mupawo and Peter Fredson, 32, were also granted bail under the same conditions.
The three men must reside at the addresses they provided to the court, report once a week to Borrowdale Police Station, and not interfere with State witnesses. They get to keep their passports.
Mugabe is scheduled to appear in court on July 11, 15 and 17 for separate hearings for the start of trial in three separate assault cases.
In a counter-complaint, Mugabe has accused one of the victims, Elvis Bvumbe, of assaulting him during the June 25 incident by tripping him and causing injury.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Mugabe appeared in a black hooded jacket and attempted to avoid media cameras. His legal team complained that the trio were denied access to legal representation at the time they were initially charged.
