War vet leader accused of theft (01-03-07)

Mafengu, Ndlovu’s neighbours at a four-hectare farm in Plot 02 of Lot A, Mandalay Farm in Nyamandlovu, told The Zimbabwean that they filed a joint complaint of theft against the war veteran in November last year.
“He is there at his house in Nkulumane but police have not yet arrested him. All they tell us is that they are still investigating the case and we have lost all hope of recovering anything from him. I think he is using his influence as a member of the ruling party,” said Mafengu.
The two men told The Zimbabwean that they share a diesel engine with Ndlovu to draw water for irrigating their crops. Sometime last year, they used the war veteran’s diesel, with his consent, to irrigate their crops. When he wanted it replaced, there was none to buy due to fuel shortages.
“We offered to give him money in black-market rates so that he could try and buy it himself but he refused. One day in November, he took a combine harvester and harvested our wheat, which he later sold to the GMB.
“When we asked him why he had done that, he said he was trying to recover his diesel, the value of which was way below that of the wheat he stole from us,” said Sibanda.
Police sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that they had received a complaint but were told by their superiors not to arrest the war veteran.
“They told us to treat the matter as a civil misunderstanding and tell the complainants to try and recover their wheat through the Small Claims Courts but we have not yet told them. They said Ndlovu is a member of the ruling party and thus must not be arrested,” said a junior police officer.
Police spokesman for Bulawayo, Inspector Shepherd Sibanda, refused to comment.