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Temba Dube Senior Reporter
LILIAN Kandemiri, famous for leading the ill-fated invasion of Bulawayo City Council’s Emganwini Farm in 2009, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding her friend of $40,000 and attempting to give the man her 15-year-old niece as a sex slave to cover up the crime.Her friend, Elphas Ncube, 46, a former estate agent, went to prison in 2009 for selling a house on behalf of a client who did not own it.

Ncube told Chronicle yesterday he had known Kandemiri since 1997 and had grown to trust her.
“Last year, knowing I would be released from prison in January 2014, I called Kandemiri and asked her to sell my plot Number 7 Sprout Road, Esigodini, for at least $70,000. I intended to use the money to rebuild my life,” said Ncube.

He said Kandemiri, who was arrested on Tuesday, told him that the highest offer she got for the property was $40,000.
“I authorised her to sell and keep the money for me. When I was released from prison on January 26, she assured me she still had the money but said she had lent $3,000 to her son in South Africa. I kept asking for it until she invited me to her home in Emganwini to speak about the issue,” said Ncube.

He added: “Some people told me that Kandemiri was planning to set me up for rape against one of her daughters. They said she wanted me to go back to prison so that she would not give me my money. Consequently, I was not surprised when she offered me her 15-year-old niece as a wife.”

Ncube said he refused to accept the child but Kandemiri insisted, pointing out that he did not have a woman in his life, since his wife left him when he was in prison.
“On Tuesday, I went to Nkulumane Police Station and reported the issue. When I got home, I found that she had left the child at my home. I called the landlord and we interviewed the girl, who said she did not want to be with me but was afraid of opposing her grandmother,” he said.

Ncube said they went back to the police station where the child stuck to her story.
“They separated us and took individual statements. The child said she did not want to go back to her grandmother. Police officers went to arrest her and it was agreed that a safe shelter would be found for the girl,” he said.

“However, we were shocked to hear the following morning that the girl had been released to her grandmother’s house.”
Ncube said neighbours told him Kandemiri’s children and other nieces threatened to beat up the girl because she had “sold out” her grandmother.

He said the girl had since changed the statement she gave to the police, saying the officers forced her to make it. Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said: “We have arrested a woman for allegedly defrauding a city man of $40,000 and attempting to give away a minor as a wife to the man.

“Investigations are underway, but I can’t comment further because the case is already in the courts.”