By Crime and Courts Reporter- Former deputy information minister Bright Matonga was remanded in custody on Wednesday.

Matonga was arrested on Tuesday and appeared before a Chegutu magistrate who threw him behind bars.

He is accused of stealing farming equipment worth nearly US$500 000.

Matonga, who served as deputy minister under the late former President Robert Mugabe’s Government, was arrested by officers at Seruwe Police Station, after an aggrieved white farmer reported him to police for theft.

Sources said that Matonga, who was in a joint venture with an unnamed white farmer, tried to seize the latter’s farming implements.

“The white (farming) partner tried to withdraw his implements, including tractors, but Matonga seized some of the equipment and that is where the charge is emanating from,” a source said.