HARARE – One of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s sons refused to have an electricity meter reading taken at his house and fired shots in the air to threaten a ZESA employee, it was reported on Wednesday.
Tarirai, one of Mnangagwa’s many children, flew into a rage after the ZESA employee arrived at his Norton home for a routine meter reading.
He allegedly claimed that his house was a “State House” while menacingly firing his gun.
The property, located on Plot 52 of Bundu Park Farm in an area of Norton known as Lydiate, has a fixed electricity meter and ZESA employees must take monthly readings to calculate consumption and the bill for that month.
ZESA meter reader Clement Mateta arrived at the property about 40km west of Harare in the company of driver Edmore Muzerengi, a former Sunday Mail photographer contracted by the power utility to drive meter readers.
“Upon approaching the gate, I hooted for attention and we saw Tarirai speaking on the phone before opening the gate for us to enter the premises,” Muzerengi was quoted as saying by NewsDay.
“I remained seated in the car and Mateta greeted him and went straight to the meter box as usual. Before he could reach the meter box, Tarirai called him and started shouting, saying we were not supposed to enter the premises since it was a State House and protected place.”
Muzerengi said he was instructed to disembark from the vehicle.
The two were ordered to sit cross-legged before Tarirai entered the house and came out brandishing a pistol.
Tarirai allegedly fired shots into the air while shouting at them before removing Mateta’s face mask with the pistol.
Said Muzerengi: “We identified ourselves and produced letters from ZESA, but he still threatened to kill us. He said he could kill and bury us behind his house and nobody would know what happened to us.
“He then asked a woman who was behind him to collect the meter box keys and opened it (for a reading to be taken). He also took pictures of our identification particulars and the letter from ZESA and released us.”
Muzerengi and Mateta filed a police report at Norton.
Tarirai, in a statement posted on his Facebook, claimed that he worked as a bodyguard for his father and he was suspicious of the unmarked vehicle which was allegedly driven at speed on his driveway.
“The speed at which they drove was in itself a cause for suspicion. Usually a person entering another’s yard regardless of the reason will drive at a courteous speed,” the statement said.
“Already on alert, Tarirai asked them to identify themselves as their entrance and driving speed had been suspicious. All they had was a letter from the power utility giving them permission to the work on the farm. He remarked that it was not sufficient to identify them and asked that they call their respective offices so that their identity could be corroborated.
“In due course however, Tarirai gave them the permission to work on the ZESA meters as stated in the job card as he monitored them.”
He did not address the allegations that he threatened to kill the men and fired shots in the air, but accused the air of formulating a false narrative because he had threatened to report them to their bosses.
It was unclear if Tarirai is affected by a recent threat by ZESA to disconnect individuals and companies that have fallen behind on their payments running into millions of dollars.
Tarirai is linked to Spartan Investment, a company whose bank account was frozen by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe last year over suspected illegal foreign currency dealings.
He is one of Mnangagwa’s sons who reportedly helped him escape the country in November 2017 after he was fired by the late former President Robert Mugabe, before he returned to take over power after the military staged a coup.
