Ndeya Nyede

Francis Moyo

MASVINGO – A 40-year-old man facing three counts of murder and one attempted murder for allegedly hacking and axing three children to death in Zaka last year told the Masvingo High Court that he was seeing mermaids surrounding him.
Munyaradzi Kudzidzvara, of Gonovi village under Chief Chikwanda, was appearing before the High Court’s Justice Mawadze for a pre-trial session last week.
Omen Mafa of Mutendi Mudisi Shumba Legal Practitioners, on behalf of the accused, argued that his client had mental health issues.
Justice Garainesu Mawadze ordered that the accused undergo a mentally examination first before setting the trial date.
It is alleged that Gonovi, who had visited his old aunt in Zimhungu village under Chief Ndanga, 60 km away from his own home, ended up butchering Ernest Dzinorumwa’s family after he passed through his homestead and thought he had reached his own house.
The incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday, May 10, 2016.
It is the State’s case that Earnest Dzinorumwa went outside to relieve himself after midnight and saw Kudzidzvara in his yard standing and starring at him and when he asked him what he was doing at his homestead, Kudzidzvara approached him instead asking why he was coming out of his bedroom and accused him of having an affair with his wife.
The misunderstanding led to a physical fight as the accused allegedly picked an axe which was lying beside Dzinorumwa’s bedroom door and chased him with it.
Dzinorumwa’s wife, Angela Kwangari went outside to see before locking her three children Leticia (8), Margret (4) and Liona Anesu (2), inside the house.
The accused allegedly struck her on the head and shoulder with an axe before breaking the door where the children were sleeping and dragged each one of them some few metres away from the hut where he allegedly axed them to death and left the axe stuck in Anesu’s head.
Neighbours are said to have found the accused lying close to his dead victims and was later arrested.
Takunda Chikwati represented the State.local

ZAKA – Heal Zimbabwe Trust is preaching peace through sport in the country and the first tournament it organised in Masvingo province was held at Zaka High School last weekend.
Speaking to TellZim News after the tournament, Heal Zimbabwe advocacy and programmes manager Cleto Manjovha said the organisation had lined up 20 tournaments to be played this year.
He said the tournaments were meant to promote peace among youths of different political persuasions by putting them in the same teams that play together.
“We want to promote peace by making sure that the youths spend at least eight hours in co-existence. We also invite their political leaders and this sends a strong message to the youths that if their leaders can mingle, they too can do the same,” said Manjovha.
He said it would be good if more resources can be mobilised so that the 20 tournaments planned can be increased in order to expand the ’15 million voices talking peace’ initiative.
Zaka district MDC senator Misheck Marava thanked Heal Zimbabwe for the initiative which he said had shown the way by which people should coexist in peace.
“I want to thank Heal Zimbabwe for the programme. They managed to preach peace to the people who were present and they overcame the politicking that some people wanted to bring in,” said Marava.
Zaka Central legislator and the initial organiser and sponsor of the tournament, Paradzai Chakona praised the event as fruitful and thanked Heal Zimbabwe for solving differences that had initially threaten to derail the exercise.
“We disagreed on the issue of the venue and the theme but we managed to resolve the small dispute and the event was successful and we were together with guys from the opposition, the likes of Marava,” said Chakona.
Twenty teams participated in the tournament which saw Chinounye Stars walking away with the floating trophy, with only two coming from outside Zaka Central.local