Itai Muzondo, Midlands Bureau
GWERU – The tension between the army and police played out in the Gweru Magistrates’ Court on Monday when members of the respective forces thronged the gallery to support their own.
A CID operative, Gift Gorongonya, appeared in the court charged with attempted murder for shooting an army corporal, Zico Shumba, on Saturday last week.
Emotions were high, with the police officers keen to show that they were united against the undermining of their authority after Operation Restore Legacy reduced their respectability in the eyes of the public.
On Sunday last week, it was reported that after the shooting incident, soldiers stormed and surrounded Gweru Police Station, forcing its temporary closure.
The State’s case, as presented by Hellen Khosa, is that on February 10, Shumba was on his way to HQ 5 Brigade Kwekwe when he saw a man being assaulted by Gorongonya.
The driver stopped and Shumba disembarked and went to establish what was happening but Gorongonya’s accomplice threatened him with a gun.
Shumba disarmed the accomplice, took the magazine and ran towards the army bus in which he was travelling.
This prompted Gorongonya to draw his fire arm and shoot at the army corporal who fell to the ground although the shot missed him.
The accused followed Shumba and shot him once on the lower limb.
Gorongonya was granted $50 bail and asked to reappear in court on February 26.local
