“Police forced me to wear ZNA uniform”-bogus soldier

A bogus soldier who was arrested while fully clad in the Zimbabwe National Army uniform has told the court that he was forced to wear the uniform by the police arresting detail in his house.

Shepherd Magorimbo said this while making his bail application before Harare Magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa. He is facing two counts of robbery and was remanded to February 15 after his application was dismissed by the court.

During his application, Magorimbo through his lawyer Blessing Mupwanyiwa, distanced himself from the offense indicating that he had been arrested in his house at midnight contrary to police reports that they had arrested him while fully clad in the ZNA regalia.

“Your worship I apply for bail as there is no compelling evidence linking me to the offence. The police has since said I was positively identified by the complainants in the matter but that is incorrect as I was never identified by anyone but rather I was arrested in my house at midnight and because my housemate is a member of ZNA, Army uniforms were found at my residence and I was forced by the arresting detail to wear the uniform.

The State led by Sebastian Mutizirwa was opposing bail on condition that they had a strong case against him. Allegations are that, on January 15 at the Seke Road flyover, Magorimbo, who was clad in the ZNA camouflage uniform, together with his four accomplices who are still at large, accosted Tapfumaneyi Muviyi and started accusing him of being a thief and threatened to take him to Harare Central Police Station.

Instead, they took him to the Seke Road flyover, forced him to reveal his EcoCash pin number and transferred $54 into their account and they also took $94 cash, two Samsung mobile phones and two Nokia mobile phones. Magorimbo was positively identified by Muviyi. He is also accused of robbing a motorist, Nicholus Mupazi, along Baines Avenue in Harare.

Magorimbo, together with his two accomplices who were also clad in army uniform, got into Mupazi’s vehicle, opened the glove compartment and took R60 and a Samsung mobile phone and went away, the court heard.