HARARE-(MaraviPost)-Two Zimbabwean border officers have been arrested for allegedly faking the exit of two luxury vehicles linked to late former President Robert Mugabe’s son Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe — cars that on paper had left Zimbabwe, but in reality were parked in Harare.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) — the state body that investigates corruption — arrested the two Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) officers stationed at Plumtree Border Post for allegedly falsifying the exit of a Lamborghini Urus and a Mercedes-Benz GLE 53.
ZIMRA is the authority that collects tax and controls customs at Zimbabwe’s borders. Plumtree is the main border post between Zimbabwe and Botswana, on the road to South Africa.
The officers are Edwin Mhondiwa Chabuda, 43, and Upenyu Chaurura, 51. They are facing charges of Criminal Abuse of Duty as a Public Officer — meaning they allegedly used their public positions to commit a crime.
ZACC alleges they cleared both South African-registered vehicles for exit at Plumtree without physically inspecting them, in direct violation of ZIMRA Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) — the official rules officers must follow when clearing vehicles.
They are accused of fraudulently certifying that the cars had exited the country when they had not. They were arrested on 8 November by ZACC’s Special Operations Unit.
Chaurura was expected to appear at Plumtree Magistrates Court on Monday, 10 November, while Chabuda was expected to appear on Tuesday, 11 November.
THE CARS THAT NEVER LEFT
According to ZACC, both vehicles entered Zimbabwe under Temporary Import Permits (TIPs) — permits that allow a foreign-registered vehicle to stay in Zimbabwe for a limited period, without paying full import duty, on condition it leaves again before the permit expires.
Investigators say the cars were then kept hidden for more than a month at 6A Brompton Road, Brompton Guest Lodge, in Newlands, Harare.
Yet ZIMRA records told a different story.
The Lamborghini, which entered in June, was recorded as having exited back to South Africa on 12 July. The Mercedes-Benz GLE 53, which entered on 12 July, was recorded as having exited on 10 October.
Both cars were actually still in Harare.
ZACC seized them at the Newlands lodge on the evening of Tuesday, 3 November, at around 6:30pm.
ZACC spokesperson Simiso Mlevu confirmed the seizure, saying the commission had acted on information that the vehicles were in the country illegally. Investigations remain active.
ZIMRA has since introduced stricter controls on TIPs for foreign-registered vehicles to curb this type of border fraud.
THE RAID THAT TURNED VIOLENT
The seizure operation turned violent, ZACC says.
Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, 29, the youngest son of the late former President Mugabe, and four other men allegedly assaulted a ZACC officer who was executing the seizure.
The four other men were identified by police as Munashe Mubawu, 43, Terrence Johannes Chinyemba, 42, Fredson Peter, 33, and Solomon Pamire, 34.
All five were arrested and detained overnight at Highlands Police Station. They appeared at Harare Magistrates Court on Thursday, 5 November.
Police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrests in connection with the assault at the lodge. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) — Zimbabwe’s national police force — is handling the assault case.
In court documents cited by local media, ZIMRA is listed as the complainant in the vehicle case, with charges including fraud under Section 136 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, with smuggling under Section 182 of the Customs and Excise Act as an alternative count.
The five were remanded in custody pending a bail hearing.
WHAT IS NOT YET PROVEN
It is important to be clear about what has — and has not — been established.
Authorities have not publicly proven who owns the two vehicles, or who ordered the alleged falsification of the border records. They have not publicly linked Chatunga Mugabe directly to the ownership or importation of either car. The charges reported against him and his co-accused relate to the alleged assault and the alleged smuggling scheme.
All the allegations — against the two ZIMRA officers and against the five men arrested at the lodge — are still to be tested in court. No one has been convicted.
Chatunga Mugabe has previously faced separate legal troubles in Zimbabwe and South Africa relating to violence and other charges. Those past cases are separate from this one.
What this case does show, however, is how the system is alleged to have worked: a car enters on a temporary permit, a border officer stamps it out on paper without seeing it, and the car stays in Zimbabwe — duty-free, untracked, and invisible to the state.
Until ZACC found the Lamborghini and the Mercedes in Newlands, on paper they were already gone.
Now the courts in Harare and Plumtree will have to decide whether that paper trail was a mistake, negligence, or corruption.
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