I was swindled money for fertilizer – witness

CHARLES MUSONDA writes

A CHIPATA businessman has told Lusaka Magistrate Felix Kaoma court that his former workmate and another man obtained his K46, 500 after tricking him that they had fertilizer for sale.
Testifying in a case in which Alex Ngoma and Joseph Ndhlovu are charged for obtaining money by false pretence, Mathias Tembo, 37, said on August 30, 2018, he travelled from Chipata to Lusaka to buy a bidding document at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Development.
Mr. Tembo said three days later he met Ngoma near Matero Shoprite and recognised him as a former workmate and neighbour in Chipata.
He said he arranged with Ngoma to escort him to the Ministry as he did not know its location.
“When I called Alex Ngoma the following morning, he told me to meet him at Shadreck’s where I found him drinking beer with Joseph Ndhlovu around 09:00 hours. I found them sharing money in K100 notes and when I asked Alex where they had got that money from, he said they had just sold fertilizer.
“He later introduced Joseph Ndhlovu to me as a boss at Nyiombo Investments. I got interested in the fertilizer and I told them that I wanted to buy 600 bags. They told me that I should just provide money because the fertilizer was readily available. We exchanged numbers and parted company because Alex said he was busy,” Mr. Tembo said.
He said when he met the two the following day, they asked for K46, 500 as down payment and Ngoma assured him to trust Ndhlovu.
He said he later called his uncle a Mr. Zulu to organize a truck to ferry the purported fertilizer after which the four men went to the bank where he withdrew K51, 450 out of which he gave Ndhlovu K46, 500 and reserved K5, 000 for transport.
He said after collecting the money, the two men did not deliver the fertilizer and just kept on giving him stories on the phone for four days.
Mr. Tembo said he later reported the matter to Mandevu police but while at the police, Ndhlovu called him that the fertilizer was on the way from Kafue and that he would send someone to give him the invoice and delivery note, and collect the balance.
“For sure the man he talked about called me and I arranged to meet him at Stanbic Bank on Cairo Road and the police accompanied me. After the police apprehended that man, he told them that Ngoma and Ndhlovu were not in Kafue but in Matero.
“The police went to Matero but only found Ndhlovu. At the police Ndhlovu said he only got K10, 000, and the rest was with Ngoma. Only K2, 000 was recovered from the K3, 000 Ndhlovu gave his wife for business. Ngoma was only apprehended after two weeks after my uncle found him in the industrial area,” Mr. Tembo said. Trial continues.