Three individuals, Mehluli Ncube (38), Rostele Lostin Ncube (43), and Nehemiah Moyo(46), received a 21-year prison sentence each from a Hwange magistrate for their involvement in a robbery at a Catholic Mission. Jerry Gonzo was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

The Ncube brothers were convicted after a trial, while a warrant of arrest was issued for Moyo. Prosecutors demonstrated the group’s involvement in several robberies in Hwange and Victoria Falls.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), on November 30, 2023, the trio went to St John’s Mission, where they threatened a security guard with a pistol and a knife, coercing him into silence.

“One of the accused persons produced an okapi knife and pointed it at his abdomen while others broke into the Priest’s house,” stated the NPA.

They proceeded to restrain both the security guard and the priest, threatening them with violence. The robbers stole the priest’s Huawei cellphone, assaulted him, and looted cash and valuables from the premises, loading them into their getaway vehicle.

The incident was reported to the police, leading to the arrest of Mehluli and Rostele on December 2, 2023, following a high-speed car chase along the Hwange-Victoria Falls road. They were apprehended in possession of weapons used in the robberies and various stolen items.