{"id":105672,"date":"2025-03-06T21:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T19:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/detective-kedha-and-accomplices-acquitted-in-us20000-theft-case"},"modified":"2025-03-11T01:01:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T23:01:20","slug":"detective-kedha-and-accomplices-acquitted-in-us20000-theft-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/detective-kedha-and-accomplices-acquitted-in-us20000-theft-case","title":{"rendered":"Detective Kedha And Accomplices Acquitted In US$20,000 Theft Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>Former police officer, Tafadzwa Chidawa, widely known as Detective Kedha, has been acquitted of theft charges.<\/p>\n

Chidawa, now a private investigator, and his co-accused\u2014Paradza Passmore Matubu, Perseverance Chisango, Malvern Mutanda, and Francis Takura\u2014were all found not guilty on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Chief Magistrate Vongai Guwuriro delivered the verdict, citing inconsistencies in the complainant\u2019s testimony as the main reason for the dismissal.<\/p>\n

The court struggled to believe the allegations against Chidawa and his associates after the complainant, Melody Matanhire, admitted to fabricating parts of her story.<\/p>\n

It was alleged that Matanhire, who was married, had an affair with Mutanda, who claimed to have US$100,000 in soiled money that needed to be \u201ccleaned.\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the process required US$20,000 in clean bills to mix with the soiled money and chemicals, and the person providing the clean bills would earn a commission upon completion.<\/p>\n

The court heard that on August 27, 2020, Matanhire told Mutanda she had secured the US$20,000 and went with him to Blue Ridge Lodge to \u201cclean\u201d the money.<\/p>\n

She allegedly took the cash from her home in Gen Lorne, Harare, unaware that Mutanda had conspired with Chidawa, Takura, Matubu, and Chisango to steal it.<\/p>\n

At the lodge, Mutanda asked for the US$20,000, which Matanhire handed over, and he placed it in a cooler box for the cleaning process.<\/p>\n

It was alleged that moments later, Chidawa and his group, posing as police officers, entered the lodge, assaulted Mutanda, and pretended to arrest him.<\/p>\n

One of the gang members is said to have taken the cooler box, while the others escorted Matanhire, later releasing her.<\/p>\n

Mutanda and his accomplices allegedly shared the stolen US$20,000. The crime was uncovered when Matanhire staged a robbery to cover up the loss to her husband.<\/p>\n

Detectives from CID Homicide arrested Mutanda, leading to the recovery of property he had purchased with the stolen money.<\/p>\n

However, in her ruling, Chief Magistrate Muchuchuti Guwuriro pointed out that Matanhire\u2019s admission of lying to her husband about the robbery cast doubt on the credibility of the entire case. She stated:<\/p>\n

After her admission that she lied to her husband, it was hard for the court to believe if anything of that nature ever occurred.<\/p>\n

The inconsistencies in Matanhire\u2019s testimony ultimately led to the acquittal of Detective Kedha and his co-accused.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Former police officer, Tafadzwa Chidawa, widely known as Detective Kedha, has been acquitted of theft charges. Chidawa, now a private investigator, and his co-accused\u2014Paradza Passmore Matubu, Perseverance Chisango, Malvern Mutanda, and Francis Takura\u2014were all found not guilty on Wednesday. Chief Magistrate Vongai Guwuriro delivered the verdict, citing inconsistencies in the complainant\u2019s testimony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":105671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[17947,17583,16266,19],"class_list":["post-105672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-detective-kedha","tag-tafadzwa-chidawa","tag-tafadzwa-chidawa-detective-kedha","tag-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nDetective Kedha And Accomplices Acquitted In US$20,000 Theft Case - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former police officer, Tafadzwa Chidawa, widely known as Detective Kedha, has been acquitted of theft charges. 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