Fake Econet Technicians in US$90K Lithium Battery Heist

By Judith Nyuke

Three men appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court charged with 17 counts of unlawful entry after stealing lithium batteries valued at US$90,000 from various Econet Wireless base stations.

​Tinashe Tinarwo (23), Luckmore Mhoyana (24), and Munashe Munetsi (25) appeared before Harare magistrate Jesse Kufa.

​The State, represented by Ephraim Zinyandu, alleges that in October 2025, Tinarwo—who was previously attached to Nytel Communications, a company contracted by Econet to install batteries—hatched a plan to steal from the network provider’s sites.

​Clad in reflective jackets labeled “Econet,” the trio allegedly proceeded to the Fidelity Assurance building in Harare, where they gained unlawful entry into the base station.

They reportedly misrepresented themselves to security guards as staff members from the Econet Wireless Zimbabwe head office, claiming they needed to service the Huawei lithium batteries.

Believing the story, the guards granted them access.

The trio then stole two 48-volt, 100Ah lithium batteries connected to a rectifier (a device that converts AC to DC power) before fleeing.

The court heard that between March and April 2026, the accused used the same method to target the Harare Main Post Office.

Wearing the Econet jackets, they duped the caretaker into believing they were head office technicians, gained entry to the base station, and stole three more 48-volt, 100Ah lithium batteries.

Using the same pretext during the same period, the trio allegedly targeted the State Lottery Building along Julius Nyerere Way.

After convincing the caretaker to let them in, they unlocked the secured battery cabinet and made off with another three lithium batteries.

​In another count, the State alleges that between March and April 2026, the suspects went to the Gandabhai building in Harare’s Downtown Central Business District (CBD).

They unlawfully entered the premises, used a key to unlock the cabinet securing the base station’s power supply, and stole three lithium batteries unnoticed.

​The State notes that the trio used this exact modus operandi to steal batteries from several other base stations across the CBD.