Zimbabwe’s social media went into a meltdown after self-proclaimed inventor and entrepreneur Maxwell Sangulani Chikumbutso, who was once a guest at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, was paraded before President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House on Tuesday.
Chikumbutso was
showcasing his alleged latest inventions, including what he claimed to be the
world’s first self-powering vehicles and motorbikes that run on radio waves.
It has since
emerged that Chikumbutso was arrested in 2018 on six counts of armed robbery
alongside five accomplices.
In his bail
application, when he was being represented by Admire Rubaya that year,
Chikumbutso denied involvement in any of the offences.
He told Justice
Roger Manyangadze Foroma that he was operating a successful company pioneering
new technology and inventions.
He also claimed
that he was famous for good work and had substantial assets in Zimbabwe.
Justice Foroma
said although Chikumbutso claimed that he had substantial assets comprising
movable and immovable property, he had failed to provide a single title deed as
an exhibit in court.
“He further
argued that he is operating a successful company pioneering new technology and
inventions and is famous for the good work he is involved in and that he has
substantial assets in Zimbabwe, including immovable properties, yet not a
single deed of transfer was produced or referred to as proof,” Justice Foroma
said in his ruling.
The State
opposed bail saying among the firearms that were recovered by the police, one
belonged to Chikumbutso.
The firearm
recovered from Chikumbutso was unlicensed and was found in the vehicle of a
co-accused who claimed he had given him a lift and he allegedly forgot it.
Justice Foroma
denied Chikumbutso bail saying he was not satisfied that the possession of the
firearm whether by him or his co-accused was not innocent considering it was
found in the vehicle belonging to his
co-accused.
The trial
resumed around 2021 but some of Chikumbutso’s accomplices had passed on and
only three were left.
NewsDay managed
to establish that his alleged accomplices were Harmony Nyati, Polite Madamombe
(both deceased), Austin Ncube, Wisdom Tariro and Godfrey Josi.
They were
accused of robbing Murefu Service Station in Waterfalls, Harare. Newsday
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