…appeal over turned

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – Lovemore Chuma, a village head who was early this year convicted by Chief Chitanga’s court for engaging in an adulterous affair with the wife of his younger cousin brother, had his sentence appeal rejected by Mwenezi magistrate Honest Musiiwa who ruled in the complaint’s favour.
Earlier this year, Chuma, who is Mushayavanhu village head, was ordered by the traditional court to pay four beasts as compensation for having an affair with the wife of his namesake cousin, Lovemore Chuma MB.
Through his defence lawyer Joseph Maweni, Chuma admitted the offence but argued that the chief’s judgement was too harsh.
On his part, Chuma confessed that they indeed engaged in an illicit affair with Chuma MB’s wife.
“We had sexual intercourse once and it is Chuma MB’s wife who approached me because she was the first to send provocative messages to my cell phone,” said Chuma.
Giving her side of the story in court, Chuma MB’s wife said the whole affair was exposed when the child who was born from the illicit affair had gone for several weeks with the umbilical cord still wet.
The court further heard that, after realising that the family was about to go on a witch-hunt to find out the cause of the child’s problem, Chuma MB’s wife spilt the beans and revealed that the child belonged to Chuma.
On his part, Chuma MB said despite the fact that his brother was guilty he did not show any remorse.
“Mukoma hunhu hwenyu hunonyadzisa munototaura kuti mukadzi wangu agara achizikanwa nenyaya yekuhura muraini. Makamitisa mukadzi wangu dzoke zve monditsvagira lawyer futi…kana ndatokunzwirai tsitsi ndingatoti mubhadhare mombe nhatu,” said Chuma MB.
Musiiwa sternly reprimanded Chuma and ordered him to pay the complainant three beasts as per his request.local

Shumirai Zhou

GWERU – A 15-year-old Lower Gweru boy recently appeared before Gweru regional magistrate Morgan Nemadire facing three counts of sodomy.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal and ethical reasons, pleaded not guilty to the charges claiming that he was playing ‘chikudo’  with the nine-year-old victim.
He claimed there was no penetration and he was remanded out of custody under the care of his grandfather to October 23 for trial.
The court heard that on January 12, 2017, the accused visited the minor at his homestead in Madhuveko Village in Lower Gweru and asked if he could accompany him to a neighbour’s homestead.
While in the bush along the way, they started to engage in playful wrestling (chikudo) and the accused allegedly took advantage of that to sodomise the complainant before threatening him with unspecified action if he reported the matter to anyone.
On the following day, the accused met the complainant in the veld and sodomised him again and on the third incident, they were caught by a passerby who took the alleged offender to the police.
However, the accused said that they were just playing and turning each other up and down so when the passersby found him on top of the younger boy, he assumed that he was molesting him.
Lloyd Mavhiza prosecuted.local

Shumirai Zhou

GWERU – Tafadzwa Mugarisanwa (26) of House number 1398/17 Mbizo, Kwekwe was recently slapped with a 23-year-jail term over 43 counts of armed robbery of which nine counts were withdrawn after witnesses failed to provide satisfactory testimonies, and the robber was acquitted on six others.
Mugarisanwa pleaded not guilty to all charges but the court found him guilty and Gweru magistrate Solomon Jenya sentenced him to 23 years in jail.
Appearing for the State, Robert Ndlala told the court that the accused was linked to a group of armed robbers that are still at large.
The gang terrorised business people, stealing electrical gadgets in Zhombe, Kwekwe and Silobela between the months of February and March 2015.
Ndlala said the modus operandi of the gang involved producing a pistol to force shopkeepers to hand over their electrical gadget such as radios, laptops and DVD players as well as groceries.
It was heard that the accused was caught after stealing submersible pumps at a local school where he was performing a community service for another case not counted on the 43 counts.
The police then tracked him and arrested him, leading to the revelation of the 43 counts.
The value of stolen property was not known by the time of his appearance in court.local

Prince Danda

SHURUGWI – The old Shona adage that ‘chisi hachieri musi wacharimwa’ proved to be accurate last week when a Shurugwi man appeared in court in connection with a murder case he allegedly committed in 2011.
Twenty-nine-year-old Brighton Mugwisi, from Mugwisi village appeared before High Court judge Francis Bere facing murder charges.
The court heard that Mugwisi and Lawrence Chaitezvi were drinking at Shumba business centre in Shurugwi, in November 2011.
The two started quarrelling and Chaitezvi spilled Mugwisi’s beer in the process.
Mugwisi then struck Chaitezvi with a beer bottle and the victim later died due to bleeding.
Justice Bere, who was sitting with assessors Wellington Matemba and Chipo Baye, convicted Mugwisi with a charge of culpable homicide and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
Two years of the sentence were set aside on condition that he does not commit a similar crime within the next five years.
Mugwisi, who was appearing in his third and final circuit, was represented by Antony Chihiya of Makonese, Chambati and Mataka Attorneys.
Mirirai Shumba prosecuted.local

Cephas Shava

MWENEZI – The Shona truism that goes ‘mhosva hairovi’ proved to be up to the point in the Mwenezi Magistrates Court last week when two men were arraigned before the court for the rape they allegedly committed between 2006 to 2008.
Appearing before magistrate Honest Musiiwa, the two accused, Zogi Matsonga (57) and Edmore Mufandaedza (35) who are both from Zvinonyanya village under Chief Neshuro, were not formally charged with rape as defined in section 65 (1) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Chapter 9:23 but were remanded in custody.
Matsonga and Mufandaedza are facing charges of having separately and on different occasions raped a 42-year-old woman who resides from the same village with them.
The court heard that sometime between 2006 and 2008, while the complaint was coming from the garden, Matsonga ambushed the victim and forcibly had sexual intercourse with her.
Mufandaedza also ambushed the complaint, who was coming from the borehole, and raped her.
Despite the fact that the offences were allegedly committed on different occasions sometime between 2006 and 2008, it came to light this year.
According to State papers the complaint reported the matter in Bulawayo this year. Willard Chasi appeared for the State.local

Itai Muzondo in Gweru

GWERU – There was drama recently after the Midlands State University (MSU) security on Tuesday last week woke up to find some of the buildings as well as one of the institution’s buses spray-painted ‘Team Lacoste’.
Though MSU director of information Mirirai Mawere could not be reached for comment, it is understood the act left university authorities shocked as they had reportedly not expected the ruling Zanu PF party’s factional battles to be extended to the campus.
The inscriptions, reading ‘Team Lacoste. Vote Noah Tshuma for SRC Presidency,’ were reportedly done on the same night that President Mugabe reshuffled his cabinet and either demoted or dropped most of the alleged Team Lacoste members.
The Midlands province is considered a Team Lacoste stronghold as it is Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s home area.
“Students have always been aligned to political parties, indirectly, but not to this extent. They are now aligning themselves directly with factions at the national political level. We are surprised,” said one official who preferred anonymity.
Another official also said security must be in a position to know who did that since the parking area is always guarded and is monitored by close circuit cameras.
“Security should have answers because they guard the parking areas 24/7 and they also have security cameras to monitor all that happens,” another official said.
Some students told TellZim News that the university had responded to the embarrassing graffiti by tightening security and suspending the affected bus from shuttling students around.
“They are now checking visitors too because they suspect it could be the work of outsiders,” another student said.
Student activist Makomborero Haruzivishe however said political consciousness at campus seemed to have risen dramatically following the President Mugabe’s Midlands leg of his youth interface rallies.
 “These are manifestations of infighting looming in students’ politics. The interface rallies are also not helping because many students feel they are being used to shunt a biased factional agenda.
 “It is however unfortunate and worrying those students are being made to divert from their co-business of learning and being dragged into the mess. Something should really be done to stop the rot because students should work only to advance their interests.local

GWERU – A nasty fight by two teenage girls over a bathing sponge ended tragically with the death of one of the two and police have arrested the other for suspected murder, TellZim News can reveal.
Midlands provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende confirmed they had arrested a minor in connection with the case.
“We can confirm that we have since arrested a minor in connection with a murder case where she allegedly stabbed her co-tenant for using her sponge without permission,” Ass Insp Mukwende said.
The matter is being investigated by police under RRB number 28057689.
TellZim News learnt that October 2, at around 17:30 hrs, the accused went to the bathroom intending to bath and discovered that her bathing sponge was wet.
The accused began to ask questions as she had assumed that somebody had used her sponge and it is said fingers began to point towards the now deceased. After a long quarrel between the two, the accused allegedly struck the other girl with feasts.
After being restrained, the accused went to her room where she drew a knife and stabbed the now deceased once on the lower side of her chest.
The victim started bleeding profusely and she collapsed. She was taken to Gweru General Hospital where she was pronounced dead the following morning.local