Four men formerly employed by Grace Mugabe have appeared in court, accused of stealing household property and cutlery valued at approximately US$500,000 from ex-President Robert Mugabe’s Blue Roof residence in Borrowdale, Harare.
The accused are Allen Chinamonya, 42, Danmore Chinamonya, 35, Samson Karonga, and Brighton Bunganirwa, 46.
The four men stood before Harare magistrate Marehwanazvo Gofa and are scheduled to make their bail application on Tuesday.
State prosecutor Lancelot Mutsokoti stated that Allen Chinamonya was initially employed as a groundsman before becoming a driver from 2004 to 2022. Karonga was still working as an electrician at the Blue Roof, while Bunganirwa was employed as a gardener.
According to the prosecutor, in 2018, Grace Mugabe brought 11 containers filled with various household items from State House following Robert Mugabe’s ouster in 2017. She secured these items by locking the containers.
Despite these precautions, from 2018 to May 2024, the four men allegedly conspired to break the padlocks securing the containers and stole various items, including television sets, clothes, cutlery, and bath towels.
The theft was discovered by Grace Mugabe on May 22, 2024, when she visited the containers to select artifacts belonging to her late husband for donation to the African Liberation Museum. The case was reported to Borrowdale police on May 25.
The stolen property was estimated to be worth US$500,000, but only goods valued at US$2,000 were recovered.
Police detectives conducted searches at Allen Chinamonya’s home, recovering items including a cream men’s suit, a white short-sleeved men’s suit, a green bed cover, a cream bed cover, and a black and silver television set. Additional items, such as a navy blue short-sleeved men’s suit and a flowery Zanu PF long-sleeved shirt, were recovered from Danmore Chinamonya’s home.
Grace Mugabe positively identified the recovered property as part of the stolen goods, according to the prosecutors.
