Meet Musa Taj Abdul

MECHANIC WHO BECAME AN ARMED ROBBER

By Daniel Kachere

Many people only got to know Musa Taj Abdul after his run-in with law enforcement in a shootout that claimed two of his South African accomplices along Glenara Avenue in March this year.
In that incident, police sources claimed Musa had again evaded arrest, as he had done for the past two decades, which saw him top Zimbabwe’s most wanted list.
Thus, it came as no surprise that his arrest on August 25 was splashed on the front pages of local newspapers and was a subject of discussion on talk shows and current affairs programmes on both radio and television.
Both the media and the public were hooked.
Tales of Musa’s notoriety are what most people are talking about right now; especially his latest attempt to gain freedom, this time through a bail application that went unopposed.
He was granted a Z$5000 bail by the High Court, only to be stopped by alert detectives before he made good his “smooth escape”. They immediately added fresh charges of armed robbery to his growing list of crimes just before he was released.
Abdul’s bail conditions were that he resides at number 12 Adams Avenue, St Martins, Harare until the matter is finalised. That he reports at Sunningdale 2 Police Station every Friday between 6am and 6pm and not interfere with investigations.
He did not need to surrender his travel documents as most people on bail are required to do, his, we are told, expired in 1999.
So how was he able to crisscross between Zimbabwe and South Africa during his various alleged crime sprees?
The bail came as a surprise to many people, there was an outcry.
The prosecutor Tapiwa Kasema was subsequently suspended and arrested over the way he handled Musa’s case.
But as all this drama plays out – the question many people have been asking is; who is Musa Taj Abdul?
Nhau visited number 12 Adams Avenue, St Martins, the address where Musa was expected by the courts to reside till matter was finalised.
Indeed the house exists, and Abdul once lived there in what now seems like donkey years ago. According to a relative – he was a “mechanic par excellence”, whose services were sought by many.
Apparently, young Abdul was in love with cars – but his love for a “quick buck” and living in the fast lane, however, led him to the life of crime.
Nhau also learnt that a then 27-year-old Abdul left Zimbabwe for South Africa, to escape the long arm of the law, which was fast catching up with him after a spate of robberies.
“Around 2000, Musa left Zimbabwe for South Africa where he was eventually caught on the wrong side of the law,” said his half-brother Ahmad Abdul, who now lives with a number of relatives at the house that Musa used to call home.
“We heard that he was arrested and sentenced to 12 years there, only to be released last year.”
The Abdul family is yet to come to terms with Musa’s life choices, which may be one of the reasons, apart from being on the run, he never stayed in touch with his kin.
Ahmad, who is now in charge of the family house in St Martins, said Musa’s sudden reappearance, this time making news headlines, came as a surprise.
“We were actually surprised when rumours filtered that he had been killed in a shootout with police along Glenara Avenue. We thought he had done away with the life of crime after serving his sentence,” said Ahmad.

Troubled childhood, family

Musa Taj Abdul is the first born in a family of 11 – five boys and six girls.
An only child from his mother, Musa’s young life was tragic.
He lost his mother at a very young age.
“I understand Musa’s mother passed on due to suspected pregnancy complications,” said Ahmad.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know much about the issue since I was not yet born and our father did not like talking about the subject.”
Musa went to live with his uncles, his mother’s brothers in Parktown, Waterfalls when his father remarried.
“When he was older he would visit from time to time. He used to have a room in the cottage but it was destroyed during operation Murambatsvina,” said Ahmad.
His fast and dangerous life did not allow any stability. Musa has never been married, but has children.
“He never married but has three known children with different women,” said Ahmad, a divorcee with two children of his own.
Another brother present during Nhau’s early morning interview with Ahmad, walked in, visibly drunk.
Ahmad immediately revealed, unsolicited, that his brother is an alcoholic, yet the most shame to the family name comes from the incarcerated Musa.
This is the shame that had Ahmad refusing to have his picture taken or that of their family home – Musa’s actions weigh heavily on his family.
“As a family we respect him. He is our elder brother but his life of crime has greatly tarnished the family name,” said Ahmad.
“At times it is even difficult to go for job interviews. We are afraid of being asked if we are related to him.”
With one family member in prison, another dependent on alcohol – the Abdul family still has to deal with more bad news. One of Abdul’s siblings was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently on chemotherapy.
“My sister’s condition deteriorated after hearing news of Musa’s life of crime and arrest,” said Ahmad.
Though Abdul seems to have been living large from proceeds of his criminal shenanigans, his family is not doing so well. Ahmad and his dependents live off two tenants who rent at their family home.
Their father died in 2010, when Ahmad’s mother left for the United Kingdom. The mother helps by sending money back home for the family’s sustenance.
While this is quite a story about those who grew up with or know something about Musa, it barely scratches the surface.
The 47-year-old’s other known addresses are 23 Down Street, Balan Green, Bulawayo and 30 Parkstan Crescent Cosmos City, Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
There is no doubt that there are stories there too, but perhaps the three mothers of his three children would be able to shed some light into this mysterious crime lord, who, from behind bars, almost orchestrated a “smooth escape” from prison.
Additional reporting by Kundai Marunya