Four homicide detectives prepare to face court proceedings on April 17, following serious allegations of theft amounting to US$23,700 from the family of a gold miner during an unauthorized operation.
The implicated officers—Wellington Masuna, Kuziwa Dennis Zambuko, Fakazi Swati, and Clemence Mbofana—are accused of overstepping their authority and breaching jurisdictional limits while conducting an investigation that should have involved proper law enforcement channels.
The controversy began in October 2024 when Lista Chipuriro, an artisanal miner from Nugget Mine, approached the detectives for assistance in recovering stolen gold from a suspected thief.
Rather than collaborating with the Matopos police or the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Minerals Unit, the detectives allegedly took it upon themselves to address the matter outside official protocols.
The situation escalated when the detectives apprehended Petros Daki, the prime suspect, at Cecil Hotel in Bulawayo, alongside two of his associates.
What followed was a contentious raid on Daki’s mother’s residence in Pumula South, which the detectives conducted without proper authorization, leading to the alleged theft of significant funds.
