Four in court over planned Mugabe dairy plant bombing
Four Harare men have appeared in court under heavy security on charges of possessing weaponry for sabotage and banditry after they were arrested on their way to allegedly bomb President Robert Mugabe’s dairy plant.
Mugabe’s million-dollar project, Alpha and Omega Dairies, is located in Mazowe, about 50km north of Harare.
Prosecutor Michael Reza told Harare provincial magistrate Vakai Chikwekwe on Tuesday that the four, Borman Ngwenya, 30, Solomon Makumbe, 29, Owen Kuchata, 34, and Silas Pfupa, 37, that on Friday January 22, police received a tip-off that the quartet were planning to attack the dairy’s processing plant and tuckshop.
The four were remanded to February 8 and were advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
Ngwenya is a corporal at 1 Field Regiment based at Cranborne Barracks in the capital, while Makombe is a retired Intelligence Corps officer based at Artillery Brigade in Domboshava.
The court heard that following the tip-off, the police then laid an ambush and at around 10pm the same night, pounced on the accused persons and arrested them as they approached the plant.
They were searched and each of them was found with four Molotov cocktails, ammonium nitrate, nails and sand in 750ml brandy bottles in their backpacks.
Also found with them were a Zimbabwe People’s Front political manifesto, party constitution and documents in relation to the political party’s activities.
Allegations against them are that they were aggrieved by Mugabe’s perceived failure in ruling Zimbabwe and that they accused the Zimbabwean leader who turns 92 in February of “causing the suffering to Zimbabweans because of his alleged dictatorial leadership style”.
“They accused the President of causing suffering to Zimbabweans because of his alleged dictatorial leadership style,” the court papers state.
The quartet is said to have volunteered information to the police that they had previously held several meetings with several donors to acquire funding in preparation for the banditry, terrorism and sabotage activities.
They had no legal representation when they appeared in court on initial remand. - ANA
(File photo: Gallo Images)