GOKWE — An assistant to a traditional healer, popularly known as Tsikamutanda, was on Thursday slapped with a 10-year jail term for stock theft.
By Silas Nkala
Jabulani Mathe (42) of Gondo village in Gokwe who is employed by Mtora Lodge as a security guard pleaded not guilty to the stock theft charge when he appeared before Gokwe magistrate, Shepard Mjanja.
The magistrate convicted and sentenced him to 10 years in jail. One year of the sentence was suspended for three years on condition of good behaviour.
The court heard that on September 12, Mathe, who was an assistant to Ronald Muchenje, a tsikamutanda still at large, went to a grazing area where they stole a cow belonging to Elias Kufa of Matesanwa village.
They sold the beast to a villager, Mary Mushipe, claiming they had received it as payment from a villager for healing services. After Kufa and Mushipe discovered that Mathe and Muchenje had stolen the cow, they reported the matter to the police, leading to Mathe’s arrest.
The beast worth US$500 was recovered but Muchenje is still at large. The court established that Muchenje was a known tsikamutanda in Gokwe.
