By Tumelo Star
In a case that shows the long arm of the law will always catch up with you, a 28-year-old Kenyan national accused of a brutal murder of his cousin brother in South Africa has been arrested in Harare and remanded in custody.
Fidow Mumin Kulmiye was remanded in custody this week by the Harare Magistrates’ Court, not for a crime committed on Zimbabwean soil, but for the alleged cold-blooded killing of his own cousin outside a mosque in Durban. The court heard how Kulmiye, after the alleged deed, became a fugitive, sneaking across borders until his luck ran out in the capital of Zimbabwe.
The State’s case paints a picture of a meticulously planned assassination born from a business dispute. Allegations are that on the evening of September 7, 2025, Kulmiye lay in wait outside the Durban Masjid. As his cousin, Fidow Aad Hussein, concluded his prayers and approached his vehicle, Kulmiye allegedly emerged from the shadows.
The accused is said to have fired at the unsuspecting Hussein from behind. Not content with the gunshot, the accused then allegedly proceeded to pound the deceased on the head with the firearm in a gruesome effort to ensure his mission was accomplished. The entire incident, the State alleges, was captured by the unblinking eye of a CCTV camera.
With the law on his heels in South Africa, Kulmiye allegedly embarked on a cross-border escape. He fled first into Botswana before illegally slipping into Zimbabwe, perhaps believing he could vanish into the crowd.
However, his freedom was short-lived. On September 14, acting on a tip-off, sharp-eyed detectives from the CID Homicide unit in Harare closed in on him at a local lodge.
When confronted, the weight of the evidence proved overwhelming. The court was informed that Kulmiye admitted to the crime during questioning.
The prosecutor in denying bail pointed to Kulmiye’s previous criminal record and labelled him a clear flight risk, stating that if granted bail, the accused was highly likely to abscond and interfere with witnesses in the ongoing international investigation.
