Former Deputy Minister of Information, Bright Matonga, has denied allegations of stealing farming equipment valued at over US$500,000, during a court appearance before Chegutu Magistrate Ms. Evelyn Mashawakure on Thursday.
The case has been postponed to January 27 for cross-examination.
Matonga, represented by his lawyer Mr. Innocent Muchini of Muchini Attorneys, argued that the tractors at the center of the dispute were left at his farm in 2021 as collateral for unpaid dues by the complainant, Mr. Dave Van Breda.
He further claimed that Van Breda later removed the tractors from his farm without his consent. Following this, Matonga reported the incident to the Chegutu police, who intercepted the tractors at Selous and returned them to his farm.
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The State, represented by prosecutor Mr. Tafadzwa Vhore, alleges that Matonga stole the farming equipment from Van Breda, with whom he had a joint venture partnership.
In a separate case, Matonga is also facing charges related to the theft of irrigation pipes and electricity transformers after his arrest in July last year. He has denied these allegations as well.
Matonga has faced legal troubles in the past. In 2019, he was acquitted in a case where he was accused of defrauding a Malawian national, Kelvin Chipeta, of US$10,000 in a deal involving demonetized Zimbabwean dollar notes. The complainant withdrew the case at the Harare Civil Court, leading Harare magistrate Mrs. Learnmore Mapiye to remove the matter from remand.
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