By A Correspondent | A 55 year old Beatrice man is facing legal troubles after allegedly creating a fake offer letter dated for 2024 that bore the signature of former Lands Minister Didymus Mutasa, who resigned from his position seven years ago.
Norman Mapupa, appeared before Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo, who remanded him in custody to Tuesday for a bail hearing.
The complainant in this case is Norman Karonga.
In 2022, Karonga was in search of a farm in Mashonaland East when he was referred to Mapupa by a man named Robert Mashura. Karonga visited Mapupa’s Altrina Farm in Beatrice to discuss his request.
“Accused acknowledged that indeed he was in a position to secure a farm for the complainant without hustles as he is directly linked to officials at the Ministry of Lands in Marondera,” the court heard.
To further convince and deceive Karonga, the accused claimed he had helped numerous beneficiaries in Mashonaland East acquire extensive land. The parties eventually agreed to go to the Ministry of Lands in Marondera to initiate the process, according to the allegations from the State.
In October 2022, it is said that Mapupa took Karonga and his manager to the Ministry of Lands in Marondera, where he presented them with blank application forms and informed them that farm number 4 Lush in Beatrice was available, encompassing a total of 102 hectares.
“The complainant was given a condition that he should pay a total of US$ 11,000 as an administration, allocation, and title fee allegedly needed by the officials at the said Ministry and a deposit of US$ 4,000 was needed for the said deal to sail through.”
Deceived by these terms, Karonga resolved to make the necessary payments in the hope of finally receiving the title deeds for farm number 4 Lush in Beatrice.
The complainant made his initial deposit of US$4,000 to Mapupa in the presence of his manager, who was advised to wait for the title deeds to be processed within three months.
From that time until January 2024, Karonga made repeated attempts to obtain the title deeds, but all efforts proved futile. He subsequently visited the Ministry of Lands, where he was informed that no payment was necessary to acquire a farm in Zimbabwe. Following further checks in their systems, he was advised that the farm he sought was allocated to another beneficiary.
The situation became evident when Karonga noticed that the offer letter had a date of 2024 and bore the signature of Didymus Mutasa, who had left office in 2018.
After this discovery, he visited the Ministry of Lands, which denied any association with the document. This led him to report the matter, resulting in Mapupa’s arrest.