Three men have appeared in court in Harare, charged with stealing President Robert Mugabe’s youngest child’s iPhone while he was in the school toilet, press reports said on Tuesday.
News of the theft came after Grace Mugabe said officials angling for power within the ruling Zanu-PF party had plotted to kill her son, Bellarmine Chatunga.
While this did not appear to be an attempt on the 19-year-old’s life, the authorities were taking it seriously.
Newsday reported that prosecutor Venencia Mutake wanted to have the trio remanded in custody until March.
The incident happened last November at a function at the prestigious private St John’s College in Harare’s Borrowdale suburb, according to website NewZimbabwe.com.
Chatunga had handed his iPhone 6 to a friend to look after while he went to the toilet.
But while he was away, the three reportedly approached the friend and said Chatunga had told them he needed his phone back.
When Chatunga emerged, he realised his phone had been stolen, said Newsday.
The official Herald named the men as Victor Josam, 26, Tendai Makambaire, 30, and Kelvin Mwandayi, 27.
They have each been granted US$100 bail (R1 580), said the Herald.
Mugabe, 91, complained last year about his three children’s fondness for smartphones and parties.
He reportedly told a rally in Chirumanzu that children in Zimbabwe wanted to “go to parties and use electronic gadgets to communicate with friends” and said his own three were no different.
“They have lots of friends on these gadgets. I see this even with my own children at home,” the Standard newspaper quoted him as saying.
