“YOU are a very wicked man.” Bulawayo High Court judge
Justice Maxwell Takuva on Monday told an Inyathi man before sentencing him to
25 years in jail for fatally stabbing a village head four times with a spear in
October last year.
Mthokozisi Mtambo (35) of stand 21 Village 8, Kennilworth
in Inyathi used a spear on October 5 to stab Hlathini village head, Major
Masiza Moyo, who was 65.
Mtambo stabbed Moyo on the forehead, shoulder, abdomen and
hand after the now-deceased and some villagers confronted him for stealing bags
of cement and mealie meal from two homesteads.
Justice Takuva, who is on circuit in Hwange said the manner
in which Mtambo killed Moyo was brutal as he convicted him of murder with
actual intent.
“You are a very wicked man. You ruthlessly attacked an
unarmed old man trying to conceal a crime you had committed and, in the
process, you deprived the deceased’s family and community of a father and
leader,” Justice Takuva said.
Justice Takuva said when sentencing Mtambo, who was
represented by Mr Tafadzwa Chimusaru of Mashindi and Associates, he had
considered that he has a wife and three minor children.
Details of the case as presented by the prosecutor Ms
Memory Munsaka were that on October 5 at around 4PM, a villager Mrs Mildred
Sigadula reported to the now-deceased that someone had stolen two empty buckets
and five kilogrammes of maize meal from her homestead.
When the village head’s wife reported that cement had also
been stolen from her homestead, villagers went to engage Mtambo leading to the
fatal attack.
“The deceased called for a village meeting at the assembly
point the following morning. At around the same time the deceased’s wife
discovered that six bags of cement had been stolen from their homestead and
reported the matter to the now deceased,” said the prosecutor.
Villagers suspected that Mtambo had stolen the goods after
tracing footprints to his homestead.
The now-deceased mobilised some villagers and proceeded to
Mtambo’s homestead with the intention of searching for the stolen goods.
Mtambo became violent when the villagers asked for
permission to search his homestead.
He went into his bedroom and came out armed with a spear
and an iron bar.
The court was told that the now-deceased pleaded with
Mtambo telling him that he was not there to fight but to search for stolen
property, but he attacked him.
Moyo fell down before Mtambo stabbed him on the shoulder,
stomach and hand.
Villagers later used a wheelbarrow to carry Moyo to Inyathi
District Hospital where he died on admission.
Mtambo’s elder brother Mr Mkhululi Mtambo teamed up with
other villagers and apprehended him and handed him over to the police.
The stolen bags of cement were recovered from Mtambo’s hut.
Chronicle
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