{"id":105638,"date":"2025-03-05T08:10:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T06:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft"},"modified":"2025-03-11T00:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T22:19:11","slug":"bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft","title":{"rendered":"Bright Matonga Acquitted Of Alleged US$500,000 Farming Equipment Theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Chegutu Magistrate Evelyn Mashawakure has acquitted former Information Minister Bright Matonga, who was arrested on June 25, 2024, for allegedly stealing farming implements worth approximately US$500,000.<\/p>\n

Mashawakure ruled that the matter was a civil dispute arising from a breach of a joint venture agreement and said that there was no evidence to support the claim that Matonga committed the alleged offence.<\/p>\n

Matonga was accused of stealing farming equipment from his business partner, Van Breda.<\/p>\n

The former Deputy Information Minister has a history of controversy. In 2016, he was blamed for the decline of Chigwell Estate in Chegutu, which had previously supported the livelihoods of about 500 people and contributed $4 million annually to Zimbabwe\u2019s revenue through exports.<\/p>\n

In July 2020, Matonga was listed as a beneficiary in the controversial Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe\u2019s Farm Mechanisation Scheme, part of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme.<\/p>\n

He was included under the \u201cPoliticians\u201d group and received goods worth US$359,420.00, according to the list published on July 18, 2020.<\/p>\n

The beneficiaries of the programme never repaid the money, and instead, the debt was shifted onto taxpayers.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Chegutu Magistrate Evelyn Mashawakure has acquitted former Information Minister Bright Matonga, who was arrested on June 25, 2024, for allegedly stealing farming implements worth approximately US$500,000. Mashawakure ruled that the matter was a civil dispute arising from a breach of a joint venture agreement and said that there was no evidence to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":105637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[4326,19],"class_list":["post-105638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-bright-matonga","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nBright Matonga Acquitted Of Alleged US$500,000 Farming Equipment Theft - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chegutu Magistrate Evelyn Mashawakure has acquitted former Information Minister Bright Matonga, who was arrested on June ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bright Matonga Acquitted Of Alleged US$500,000 Farming Equipment Theft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chegutu Magistrate Evelyn Mashawakure has acquitted former Information Minister Bright Matonga, who was arrested on June ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-05T06:10:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-10T22:19:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741149755.849086.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Bright Matonga Acquitted Of Alleged US$500,000 Farming Equipment Theft\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-05T06:10:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-10T22:19:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft\"},\"wordCount\":197,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2025\/03\/sm_1741149755.849086.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bright Matonga\",\"Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/bright-matonga-acquitted-of-alleged-us500000-farming-equipment-theft\",\"name\":\"Bright Matonga Acquitted Of Alleged US$500,000 Farming Equipment Theft - 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