Admire Chatindo
An 86- year- old man from Muvavarirwa village, under Chief Munyikwa in Gutu recently appeared before Gutu magistrate facing charges of impersonating Chief Munyikwa.
Rafinos Kubiku who pleaded not guilty is alleged to have convened a meeting which he chaired as Chief Munyikwa and dispatched letters with the chief’s signature summoning people to another meeting.
However, the matter is still pending as the state requested to do more investigations after the defense council argued that the accused gained nothing from the meeting rendering the case incomplete.
The state alleged that on May 4, 2023, Rafinos Kubiku (86) convened a meeting at Kubiku Primary School, Gutu, where he chaired as Chief Munyikwa. The accused person went on to dispatch letters for a meeting which was to be conducted on May 25 2023 at Kubiku Primary School and one of the family members Ishimael Rukato Kubiku received the letter.
In his defense, Kubiku claimed he never impersonated the chief but simply invited the Kubiku family members, to a meeting, whose agenda was to discuss the abuse of the Kubiku surname.
He said it was a family gathering to discuss family matters and never asked or demanded anything from those present.
Kubiku said there was an existing dispute over chieftainship with four heads of families challenging the installation of the current Chief Munyikwa born Killion Rashamira with the dispute still pending before the High Court in Masvingo.
Kubiku (86) was nabbed for obtaining advantage for himself or for some other person impersonates a peace officer as he misrepresents as chief Munyikwa and convened a meeting at Kubiku primary school realizing that there is a risk or possibility that he was lying.
The accused was never informed formally about the installation of the new chief and had been acting since 2015
