A GUN WIELDING Harare man, who terrorised Victoria Falls residents, last Thursday shocked the Hwange Magistrate’s Court when he claimed he had committed the robberies to raise money for bus fare to return to the capital.
TINASHE MUNGAZI OWN CORRESPONDENT Emmanuel Chiringo (28) of Zimre Park in Harare lost his charm which earned him more than $3 000 when he decided to share his spoils with a sex worker, who later sold him out while attempting to flee the resort town.
“Your honour, I was looking for money after going to Victoria Falls to look for work without enough money to return to Harare.
“That is the reason why I committed all these offences. I just wanted some money to survive,” Chiringo told a stunned court audience.
He pleaded guilty when he appeared before regional magistrate for the Western Region, Dambudzo Malunga facing two counts of unlawful entry, theft and robbery. Malunga, sentenced Chiringo to an effective seven years behind bars.
Prosecutor Tawanda Sigauke told the court how on November 7 2013 at around 6.30pm, Victoria Falls Deputy Sheriff Kudakwashe Chigoma secured his house by locking all the doors and fastened his windows before leaving for church.
Later that night, Chiringo went to the house where he smashed the bedroom window and then cut the window gauze wire with a damaged scissors to gain entry.
He ransacked the whole house and stole various items that included clothing, electrical gadgets and furniture. He packed the stolen clothes into two bags which he later forgot and left them outside the house.
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While ransacking the house, Chiringo found a set of keys in one of the jackets in the wardrobe and used them to open a gun cabinet from where he took a star pistol with 17 rounds of ammunition.
He broke into Lulu Rumbidzai Mukombero’s house next door where there was no one and ransacked all the rooms and stole three cellphones and chargers from one of the bedrooms.
Chiringo met Mbongeni Sibanda and Sikhanyisiwe Ncube walking home at around 2.30am. He pulled out the stolen pistol and pointed it at Sibanda’s head before ordering them to empty their pockets. He took $26 and disappeared.
He later went to Chinotimba Night Club where he met sex worker Martha Matshazi, whom he proposed to and she consented.
“After a few drinks we decided to go to my residence where we had sex and he paid me $10 for the service. I suddenly heard a corking sound and asked him what it was and he told me that it was a gun, and that he worked for the government,” Matshazi told the court.
She said in the morning Chiringo boarded an Extra City bus bound for Harare saying he was going to Zvishavane.
Suspicious of her client, Matshazi informed police on patrol at the bus terminus leading to Chiringo’s arrest just as the bus was leaving.
Malunga said although the court would take into consideration that he had children and was young, the offences he had committed were serious and attracted a stiff penalty.
“The offences you committed are serious. You broke into someone’s house and stole property, including a pistol that you later used to commit the robberies. You were very cruel as you waylaid some of your victims and went to the extent of pointing a loaded weapon at their heads.
“Robbery is regarded as a serious offence, especially when a weapon is used,” Malunga said.
