A Zimbabwean court has issued an arrest warrant for Bellarmine Chatunga Mugabe, the youngest son of former president Robert Mugabe, after he failed to appear for a court hearing.
The 27-year-old was due to attend the Beitbridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday for a routine remand hearing, following his arrest two weeks ago on charges of disorderly conduct and possession of a prohibited weapon.
According to a statement from Zimbabwe’s National Prosecuting Authority, the incident occurred on 31 August at a security roadblock in Bubi, near the South African border.
Officials allege that Chatunga became confrontational when police stopped a vehicle he was travelling in, which was driven by a South African national identified as Irvin Molokoza.
The prosecution claims Chatunga shouted at the police officer, saying: “What are you doing, you are delaying me for the fourth time. I am rushing to a wedding in Harare, check my passport, don’t you know who I am?”
During the altercation, a small brown knife allegedly fell from Chatunga’s jacket, leading to the weapons charge.
This incident is the latest in a series that have kept the Mugabe family in the public eye since Robert Mugabe’s ousting from power in 2017. The former president, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years, died in 2019.
The younger Mugabe’s brush with the law comes at a time when Zimbabwe continues to grapple with economic challenges and political tensions that have persisted since his father’s era.
Legal experts in Harare say that Chatunga will now face additional legal consequences for failing to appear in court, on top of the original charges from the Bubi incident.
The case has attracted significant public interest in Zimbabwe, where the Mugabe name still carries considerable weight in political and social circles.
Authorities have not yet commented on potential steps to locate Chatunga or on the circumstances surrounding his failure to appear in court.
