Zimbabwean police have detained Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of the country’s late president Robert Mugabe, following claims that an investigator was attacked while looking into the smuggling of two luxury vehicles.
Chatunga, 29, was picked up on Tuesday together with four other men. Police named them as Munashe Mubawu, 43, Terrence Johannes Chinyemba, 42, Fredson Peter, 33, and Solomon Pamire, 34. A police statement said all five face charges linked to the assault.
Citing the BBC, the report states that officers confirmed the incident took place at Brompton Guest Lodge in Harare at about 6:30pm on November 3. The confrontation reportedly erupted as officials were examining how the two high-end vehicles had been brought into the country.
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has since seized both cars. Their removal from circulation suggests the authorities are taking the smuggling allegations as seriously as the assault claim, and the vehicles are expected to stay in custody until the probe is complete.
The suspects are scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, November 5, where the formal charges are expected to be read out.
Chatunga is the son of Robert Mugabe and his second wife, Grace Mugabe. The elder Mugabe governed Zimbabwe for 37 years before the military forced him out of office in 2017, when he was 93. He died in 2019.
The younger Mugabe has previously drawn public attention and controversy, a stark contrast to the political legacy his father left behind, which shaped the southern African nation for decades.