MASVINGO – There shall come false prophets!
A man from Dzimbi Village under Chief Chirumhanzu in Mvuma learned the hard way that not all prophets are men of God after a man of cloth advised him to bring his money to the shrine so he could pray for it.
The money then disappeared at the holy place.
Patrick Musasa (55) told his client Joseph Muchakata to bring his US$6 000 to the shrine because there were evil spirits after it. He said prayers at the shrine would ensure that the money was safe.
Unbeknown to Muchakata, Musasa and his co-accused Madzibaba Shadrack Gwatiringa (34), Alex Muzondiwa (46), Francis Makopa (65) and Conrad Ngamera (18) had connived and plotted to steal the money.
After the prayers and on his way home, Muchakata realised that he no longer had his money. He tried to find out from Musasa and his accomplices but to no avail. He then reported the matter to Police and by the time the five were arrested Musasa had bought a truck, groceries and various other items.
Constance Mutandwa presiding over the case at Mvuma Magistrates Court recently, slapped Musasa with a two-and half years sentence and she removed the six months on condition that Musasa does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.
The State says that on February 1, 2021 at 8:30pm Muchakata and Musasa and with his other counterparts except for Gwatiringa went for a night prayer at Runyararo shrine in Denhere Village.
Muchakata had US$6 000 which he had been advised by Musasa to bring to the shrine since evil spirits wanted to take away the money from him.
They finished their prayer session the next morning at 6am and Muchakata gave the four accused a lift to Mangoma Business Centre and they went to their respective homes.
Muchakata discovered on getting home that his money was missing and followed the accused one after another but to no avail. He went back to the shrine but did not find the money. He then reported the case to Mvuma Police.
Cops picked up Ngamera who implicated Musasa as the person who took the money from Muchakata, they proceeded to the shrine and picked up Muzondiwa.
They then went to Musasa’s place and found a lot of new things including door frames, doors and various groceries and he failed to explain the source of the money. They cops proceeded to Gwatiringa’s homestead and found a second hand pickup truck registration book with number ABL2995 and Gwatiringa indicated that the car belonged to Musasa.
Police called the previous owner of the car and he told them that he had sold the car to Gwatiringa.
Gwatiringa and Musasa were taken for further questioning.
