A Zanu PF activist has been charged after being found with a gun and ammunition at a church service attended by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko during the Easter holiday.
BY NQOBILE BHEBHE
Sweet Sweet, who is also a businessman, was an usher during an event at the Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM Sengwayo) church service in Bulawayo’s Pelandaba suburb.
According to court papers, one of Mphoko’s bodyguards Vumani Ncube saw a gun protruding from Sweet’s white suit.
Ncube quickly arrested the activist and took him to the nearest police station.
Sweet was found with a BRNOC2 pistol, 14 rounds of ammunition, $2 and R5.
It was not clear what he intended to use the gun for.
Investigations revealed that the gun was legally registered for protection of cash in transit with serial number 68244 and certificate number 830701.
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Sweet appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Tawanda Muchemwa last week and was granted $100 bail, Southern Eye has learnt.
He is facing charges of possessing a gun at a public place and will reappear in court next week.
Sweet is a businessman who has been operating in Bulawayo for sometime.
In 2012, he was accused of trying to grab a mine from a local businessman claiming he was advancing Zanu PF’s indigenisation policy.
At the time, the complainant Lawrence John Cleminson claimed Sweet threatened to “take him out” if he did not make some people − including his son Job Sweet − directors of company Filiberg Enterprises.
Then Mines minister Obert Mpofu was quoted warning against fake indegenisation agents.
Mphoko has been addressing regular meetings in Bulawayo, including some hosted by churches, since his appointment by President Robert Mugabe last December.
In the 2013, Sweet tried unsuccessfully to represent Zanu PF in the Bulawayo East parliamentary constituency during the harmonised elections.
