Two Zimbabwean transporters, Munashe Bauti and Tinashe Makaruse, have demanded US$100,000 from Feedmix (Pvt) Ltd, accusing the company of wrongfully causing their arrest and prosecution on fraud charges which were later dismissed by the court.
The demand was made through their lawyer, David Ngwerume, in a letter dated 15th July 2025. The letter alleged that the duo suffered both financial and reputational damage after being falsely accused, arrested, and subjected to over two years of trial before being acquitted by the Harare Magistrates Court.
The arrest happened on March 7, 2023, and both men were charged with four counts of fraud under Case #HREP 2412/3/23. They were finally acquitted on June 9, 2025, after the State’s case collapsed during trial. The lawyer said that witnesses in court even exposed that the allegations were maliciously made.
“Our instructions are that we demand, as we hereby do, payment in the sum of US$100,000 being compensation for malicious prosecution, which you caused to be instituted against Bauti and Makaruse,” the lawyer stated in the letter addressed to Feedmix.
Ngwerume said the damages are being split equally, with US$50,000 demanded for each of the clients. He insisted that the men were innocent transporters who only delivered goods after being hired, and that the company ignored all the evidence they presented.
According to the details in the letter, the men were arrested and detained at the instance of Feedmix without formal Police involvement for the first several hours. “You illegally arrested and detained our clients on the 7th of March 2023 from 10am to 4pm, depriving them of their freedom before you even took them to the Police,” the letter read.
Ngwerume said the men were then handed over to the Harare Central Police Station, where they were made to spend a night in degrading conditions, before being brought before the Magistrates Court the next day. They were forced to engage a lawyer to fight for bail, incurring legal costs from the very beginning of the case.
The lawyer pointed to the involvement of Mr. Josphat Mutipforo, the company’s Head of Corporate Security, who allegedly detained and interrogated the two men for seven hours, in what was described as taking the law into his own hands. The letter claimed that Mr. Mutipforo acted outside the bounds of legal procedure and violated the men’s rights.
The accused transporters also complained about the social and economic impact of the false charges. Ngwerume said their clients were labelled as fraudsters which spread the allegations publicly.
The letter claimed that the men had suffered damage to their personal reputation and business standing, lost productive time over two years, and were ridiculed within their communities.
“All the fraud allegations brought before the court were clearly actuated by malice,” Ngwerume stated. “They did not have any documentary evidence to prove the fraudulent claims.”
He warned that if Feedmix fails to meet the seven-day ultimatum to compensate the duo, legal action would follow, with costs demanded at a higher scale.
“Our clients suffered the indignity of a criminal trial, bore the brunt of being ridiculed in their community and business, and their pockets were hit with legal expenses,” Ngwerume emphasized.
As of the time of reporting, efforts to get an official response from Feedmix (Pvt) Ltd have been unsuccessful. The company has yet to issue any public comment or clarification on the matter.
The case adds to growing concerns over malicious prosecution and the abuse of security personnel by companies acting outside due process. It also raises questions about private sector influence on criminal investigations and the need to safeguard the rights of individuals, especially small business operators and transport workers.
