Chirunga�s actions backfire on his wife
Lebogang Mosikare | Tuesday January 24, 2017 16:25
Ncube is a surety in a case in which Chirunga is facing two counts of allegedly obtaining the Botswana national identity card and a passport through dubious means.
Chirunga is alleged to have given false information to a person employed in the civil and national registration office in Francistown in order to illegally obtain a passport on May 8, 2013. He is also alleged to have given false information to a person employed in the civil and national registration office in Francistown on December 10, 2007 in order to obtain Omang.
When Ncube appeared in court recently, after Chirunga failed to appear as scheduled, State prosecutor, Gasemotho Pitlagano applied for the P1,500 that Ncube and another surety, Tabitha Malunga had pledged, to be forfeited to the state because the duo failed to make sure that Chirunga appeared in court as and when needed.
Said Ncube: “I don’t know the whereabouts of Chirunga. I left him at home to go and buy goods that I sell at the wholesalers but when I came back I did not find him home. Till today, I don’t know where he is. I totally agree with the prosecution that the money I deposited with the court as a surety should be forfeited to the state.”
Malunga also agreed that the P1,500 she deposited with the court as a surety for Chirunga should be forfeited to the state because she failed to ensure that he religiously abided by one of his bail condition of appearing in court as and when needed.
Magistrate Ishmael Molobe postponed the matter to February 17 for status report.
Previously, Pitlagano told the court that Chirunga possessed two Botswana passports.
He further indicated that Chirunga’s nationality was questionable, adding that the prosecution believed he was Zimbabwean.
“We have just received documents from Zimbabwe that show that Chirunga is Zimbabwean,” Pitlagano said then.
Meanwhile, Chirunga’s absence in court may have to do with what one of the local newspapers reported in one of its August editions last year.
According to the paper, Chirunga and his alleged partner in crime hijacked a Motswana man of his Toyota Corolla in Mochudi.
According to the paper, the duo then fled from the crime scene in the direction of Mabule where they had allegedly cut the border fence.
Having proceeded through the gap in the fence, they were then involved in a high-speed chase with members of the South African patrol officers who had observed them.
The chase is said to have involved four vehicles, all with Botswana licence plates and suspected to be stolen, prompting the authorities to believe that the operation was a regular occurrence.
During the chase, the Hilux that Chirunga was allegedly driving overturned and he was duly apprehended and a firearm seized before he was taken to the hospital.
Assistant Superintendent Malatsi Baakile of Mochudi police then confirmed the hijacking and urged the public to be vigilant and exercise caution at all times.
Chirunga is also accused of murdering University of Botswana professor Richard Sehurutshe in 2016.
Sehurutshe’s body was found dumped in Molepolole, with his car missing. Chirunga is alleged to have abducted the deceased at his Phase Two home in Gaborone for sometime before he was found dead.
In addition, Chirunga also faces two counts of motor vehicle theft.