Supreme Court frees Sanyatwe brothers after four years

A wrongful stock-theft conviction just collapsed after the allegedly stolen oxen turned up alive somewhere else entirely.

Chrispen and Taurai Sanyatwe walk free

• Chrispen and Taurai Sanyatwe spent four years locked up for supposedly stealing two oxen in Tikwiri Village, Rusape.
• Their September 2021 trial handed down 10 years, with one year suspended.
• Chrispen was a serving cop at Rusape Rural Police Station when arrested.
• Key defence witnesses were never called to testify at trial.

Fresh evidence blows the case apart

• Diana Murombe, the complainant, later confirmed via sworn affidavit that her cattle had been found in Mutambira Village.
• Physical descriptions she gave at trial did not even match the recovered animals.
• Defence lawyer Pepukai Mabundu argued that ownership was never actually proven by prosecutors.
• Zimbabwe's Supreme Court heard the appeal before Justices Guvava, Mathonsi, and Mwayera.

Prosecution folds, and acquittal granted

• Tozivepi Mapfuwa, representing the National Prosecution Authority, conceded the conviction was unsafe.
• Justice Mathonsi questioned whether any reasonable court could have convicted on that evidence.
• A consent ruling delivered full acquittal for both brothers.
• Their legal fight stretched over five years from the original November 2020 complaint.