A soldier and a colleague who was arrested at former President Robert Mugabe’s blue roof mansion say that they were looking for herbs in the orchard. They denied ever stealing water taps and electric cables.
Ngonidzashe Kapasura (26), of the Presidential Guard Unit, who is charged along with Raymond Chahwanda (23) told Harare Magistrate Victoria Mashamba that they were only looking for traditional herbs which he used to see while guarding the premises during the tenure of the former President.
Kapasura pleaded:
I went inside the Blue Roof searching for herbs and while in the middle of searching, I saw security guards who asked me what I was looking for.
When the security guards apprehended us, we were not holding anything. We just told them that we were looking for traditional herbs.
He added that the soldiers guarding the property were out to fix him:
The property which they allege we stole was, in fact, collected from the house to fix us for trespassing. They apprehended us outside the house, but they led us inside the house and collected the said stolen property, saying they want to fix us.
The stolen property was valued at $150.00.
Its easy to spoil your name, $150.00 is nothing, hence it is important to avoid stealing.