Paul Nyathi

Former ZANU PF Matabeleland South Province Chairman and veteran politician Rido Mpofu, 70, has been thrown into remand prison on charges of raping his 15 year old niece several times on different occassions for over a year.

Mpofu who was at one time the Mayor of Gwanda was dragged to court on Wednesday charged with rape which he is apparently denying.

Gwanda magistrate Caroline Matanga remanded him in custody to October 23 and advised him to apply for bail at the High Court.

“Sometime in 2019, the juvenile was with accused person where she used to stay when she retired to bed, the accused followed her to her bedroom and asked her to polish his shoes,” said prosecutor Noel Mandebvu.

“Complainant woke up to receive the shoes and the accused pushed her to the bed. He removed his short and lowered the girl’s trousers and pants before having sexual intercourse with her without consent.”

Mpofu is alleged to have further sexually abused the teenager three times this year, threatening to send her away from his Gwanda home and stop paying her school fees if she revealed the matter to anyone.

The teenager finally opened up to her grandmother in August this year before the matter was reported to police last month.