The man convicted of killing seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore three years ago, will today be sentenced by the High Court after both the prosecution and defence submitted their arguments in aggravation and mitigation.
Tafadzwa Shamba was last month convicted of murder, while
the boy’s uncle, Tapiwa Makore Senior, was found guilty of being an accomplice
after he provided his house for the commissioning of the crime. He too faces
his sentence today.
The body of Tapiwa was found disfigured and cut into
pieces, sparking far-reaching outrage throughout the nation. Shamba confessed
to the murder and this statement was confirmed by a magistrate and accepted by
the High Court.
He told the court that they killed the boy with the
intention of selling his body parts to a witchdoctor for US$1 500.
High Court Judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, sitting with
assessors Mr Chakuvinga and Ms Chitsiga, found Shamba guilty of murdering the
boy while Makore Snr was convicted of being an accomplice to the murder
although the court found insufficient evidence to convict him of the murder
itself.
In the case of Shamba, he was convicted on the strength of
the confession he made with this being supported by other evidence. He did not
only confess to the murder, but made indications which led to the recovery of
the boy’s lower limbs dumped in a latrine.
Shamba also led police to the house where the boy had been
detained. The police recovered a container with illicit brew which Shamba had
used to drug the boy and other paraphernalia used during and after the murder.
In convicting Makore Snr as an accomplice, the court relied
on circumstantial evidence, after discounting his direct involvement in the
murder for want of enough evidence but the judge made it clear he was embroiled
in the murder in more than one way.
It is a requirement of the law that there be a causal link
between the accomplice’s conduct and the death, said Justice Mutevedzi, finding
that Makore provided his house to facilitate the commission of the crime hence
contributed to the murder of the boy.
In the final analysis, the court was satisfied that Shamba
and Makore Snr, in one way or another, left their bold and luminous foot prints
across the crime scene. Herald
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