By Staff Reporter
The Karoi Magistrates’ Court has come down hard on a local poacher, convicting 29-year-old Trust Kamwendo for slaughtering a buffalo in the protected wilderness of Matusadonha National Park. In a stern sentence, Kamwendo received 12 months behind bars. The court suspended three months of that term for five years and conditionally suspended a further three months, demanding he pay a hefty USD 10,000 in restitution. To avoid the final six months, he must complete 210 hours of community service.
The brazen crime unfolded on December 19, 2025, when Kamwendo and six accomplices who remain at large plotted to hunt animals for game meat. Armed with spears and aided by a pack of dogs, the group infiltrated the Njofa area of Matusadonha National Park near Siakobvu. There, they killed a buffalo, skinned the carcass, and prepared the meat for drying.
Their operation, however, was cut short. Rangers on patrol intercepted the poachers two days later, on December 21, as they transported their illicit haul. While Kamwendo was captured, his accomplices vanished into the bush. Authorities recovered 50 kilograms of dried buffalo meat and the hunting spears. In a further blow to his defense, Kamwendo led the rangers directly to the grim site where the buffalo had been skinned.
The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe warned the public saying, “Poaching is a serious criminal offense. Legally hunting any animal requires a valid permit; operating without one is a prosecutable crime.”
