Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe

Commercial Farmers' Union of Zimbabwe

***The views expressed in the articles published on this website DO NOT necessarily express the views of the Commercial Farmers' Union.***

Joseph Chinotimba and his violent past

Joseph Chinotimba and his violent past

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
19 July 2011

War vets leader Joseph Chinotimba might be well known for being the butt of 
jokes which mock his broken English and clownish behavior, but today on our 
Crimes of the Past series we look at his trail of violence, rape and murder.

Chinotimba, a former security guard with the Harare City Council, rose to 
infamy in 2000 when he declared himself ‘commander in chief’ of farm 
invasions. From guarding beer halls and other municipal facilities he 
suddenly became the ‘poster boy’ for the violent land invasions and appeared 
several times on state television leading violent mobs of war vets and ZANU 
PF militants onto farms.

When ZANU PF selected Chinotimba to be their parliamentary candidate for the 
Buhera South seat in the March 2008 harmonized election, an even more 
violent side to his character was to emerge. Although MDC-T candidate Naison 
Nemadziva eventually won the seat, it was not before Chinotimba had 
unleashed a variety of terror tactics, that included mob violence, group 
rape and even murder.

According to eyewitness testimonies, on the 5th May 2008 Chinotimba, in the 
company of his cousin, raped an MDC-T member in Buhera. He threatened Idah 
Munyukwi with a gun before raping her twice.

Chinotimba also encouraged his violent mob to use rape as a tool. Under his 
instruction a group of about 21 ZANU PF thugs gang raped Memory Mufambi, an 
MDC-T supporter in Ward 18 of Buhera.

Girl Child Network founder Betty Makoni dealt with the case, having provided 
shelter for Mufambi in Botswana. She described in detail how Chinotimba’s 
mob raped the woman. She said they went to her home looking for her husband 
who was a prominent MDC-T activist and when they could not find him they 
started beating up his wife (Mufambi) until she collapsed.

Makoni said the mob of ZANU PF youth militia and war vets then took Mufambi 
to their torture base where after initially putting a gun to her head they 
took turns to rape her over the course of a week. Mufambi says she lost 
count of how many men raped her but it was so violent she suffered severe 
internal injuries. She was only released after one of the men involved 
became ashamed at the extreme violence and pleaded for her to be released.

Mufambi is still in and out of hospital suffering the long term effects of 
what happened to her.
In Botswana Makoni and her group had provided counseling for the Mufambi 
family as the woman’s ordeal continued with the fact that her husband wanted 
to divorce her because of the rape. Makoni told SW Radio Africa that the 
Mufambi case is one of 200 cases documented by a team of international 
lawyers and taken to the African Commission on Human and People Rights. The 
same dossier is reported to have been sent to the International Criminal 
Court (ICC) for possible prosecution.

Meanwhile in the Ward 27 area of Chapanduka and also in 2008, Chinotimba led 
a group of ZANU PF thugs who beat to death an MDC-T activist known as 
Sibamba. In another incident on the 18th May 2008, Chinotimba’s truck was 
used in the attack on Choukuse Nyoka Mubango in Ward 26. Mubango was axed to 
death in full view of his wife and five children.

In June 2008, undercover BBC reporter Ian Pannell described a face-to-face 
encounter with Chinotimba, saying: “His car blocked ours. He got out with 
three other men, striding towards us, wearing a T-shirt with two 
Kalashnikovs and Robert Mugabe’s face printed on it. His eyes were 
unflinching, a large, brooding man, full of hatred, smelling of alcohol and 
full of threats.”

Chinotimba is said to have leaned into the car, demanding to know what the 
journalists were doing in the area. “It was only fast and fluid talking by 
two South African colleagues we were travelling with that persuaded him to 
leave us alone. I will never quite believe that he really bought what felt 
like a terribly flimsy cover story about travelling to see friends, but he 
did eventually let us pass,” Pannel wrote.

Chinotimba, with the help of his violent mob, took control of the area 
behaving like a mafia boss. They rampaged through Buhera, targeting numerous 
rural peasants like Admore Chibutu, Petros Murinda, Tongeyi Jeremiah, and 
Mangwanani Zvichapera. They burned down their homes, beat them up, killed 
and stole their livestock.

At the moment Chinotimba is living happily in a plush home in Marlborough, 
with his round the clock security.

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp

New ZACC chair spells out vision

New ZACC chair spells out vision   1/6/2019 The Herald From George Maponga in Masvingo Newly-appointed Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) chair Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo has

Read More »

Matanda-Moyo sworn in as ZACC boss

Matanda-Moyo sworn in as ZACC boss     31/5/2019 Newly-appointed Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission chairperson Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo (left) accompanied by her husband Foreign Affairs and International

Read More »

ZACC officers wind up training

ZACC officers wind up training    30/5/2019 Source: ZACC officers wind up training | The Herald Herald ReporterTwenty-three Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) officers who were being trained

Read More »

New Posts:

From the archives

Posts from our archive you may find interesting