Bellarmine Chatunga Arrested Again!! Why Is He Always On The Wrong Side Of The Law?
By Agencies
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the 29-year-old son of late former president Robert Mugabe, was among five men arrested on Tuesday night over the alleged assault of a Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) investigator during an operation targeting two luxury vehicles suspected to have been smuggled into the country, police said.
The arrest is the latest in a string of run-ins with law enforcement involving the former president’s youngest son, who has previously been arrested and deported from South Africa after his gardener was shot and wounded.
National police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi named the other four suspects as Munashe Mubawu, 43, Terrence Johannes Chinyemba, 42, Fredson Peter, 33, and Solomon Pamire, 34.
The five face assault charges over an incident at Brompton Guest Lodge in Newlands at around 6.30PM on Tuesday. They were detained overnight at Highlands Police Station.
They will appear in court on Thursday.
ZACC spokesperson Simiso Mlevu told a news conference in Harare on Wednesday that the commission had received information that two South African-registered luxury vehicles were being kept at the lodge.
The vehicles, a Lamborghini and a Mercedes-Benz GLE 53, allegedly entered Zimbabwe under temporary import permits issued by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), but investigators suspected they had remained in the country beyond the permitted periods.
“ZACC acted on the information that these vehicles are in the country illegally. Indications are that the vehicles got into the country through ZIMRA-issued temporary import permits on different dates,” Mlevu said.
“The Lamborghini arrived in the country in June, and according to ZIMRA records exited the country on July 12. On the same date, July 12, the Mercedes-Benz GLE 53 got into the country and according to official records it exited for South Africa on October 10.
“One of our officials was assaulted by the suspects who are allegedly involved in the smuggling of the vehicles and the matter was reported to the police.”
It was not immediately clear what role each of the five men allegedly played in the importation or possession of the vehicles.
Chatunga’s previous encounters with law enforcement have played out in both Zimbabwe and South Africa.
In the cannabis case, he was arrested alongside his friend Max Mugaba after police found 72 grammes of cannabis in Mugaba’s bag. Prosecutors withdrew the charge against him before plea, proceeding instead against Mugaba.
His other run-ins include an arrest and subsequent deportation from South Africa after his gardener was shot at his house in a posh Johannesburg neighbourhood. Chatunga’s cousin eventually took the fall as he was jailed, while he was deported to Zimbabwe after admitting being an illegal immigrant.
He was also arrested at a police checkpoint in Bubi, near Beitbridge, after allegedly resisting a police officer’s instructions.
He faced allegations of assaulting trespassers at his mother Grace Mugabe’s Mazowe farm while armed with a gun
