Online Reporter
Freedom Mupanedemo
Midlands Bureau
AN 18-year-old artisanal miner has been sentenced to 25 years for the gruesome murder of a fellow miner (33) following a disagreement over a portable radio.
Gerald Gombe, who resides in Village 5 Chironde area under Chief Nhema, appeared before a Bulawayo High Court judge on circuit in Gweru, facing one count of murder.
Gombe pleaded not guilty to murder but admitted to a lesser charge of culpable homicide.
He was, however, convicted of murdering Vasco Masara (33) of Village 17, Tokwe 3, Chironde area in Shurugwi and was handed a 25-year prison sentence.
Prosecutor, Mr Thomson Hove, proved that on December 17, 2022, at around 6pm, Masara, an artisanal miner, was at his cabin at Nduku Mine Wonderer, Shurugwi, when an altercation ensued with Gombe’s accomplice, Tadiwa Chirimuuta, who is on the run
over a radio which was inside the deceased’s cabin.
Mr Hove told the court that Gombe, who was some meters away from the cabin, was called by his accomplice.
The court heard that Gombe armed himself with a knife, and his accomplice also armed himself with an axe.
“The accused person then stabbed the deceased several times all over the body, and his accomplice used an axe handle to strike the deceased all over the body,” said Mr Hove.
“The two then fled from the scene, leaving the deceased bleeding from his injuries. The deceased was then ferried to Shurugwi District Hospital, where he died upon admission
He said on December 19 2022, a post-mortem examination was carried out at United Bulawayo Hospitals and concluded that the cause of death was hypovolemic shock and stab wounds.
Mr Lloyd Matambo, one of the state witnesses, said he knew the deceased during his lifetime as his nephew.
“On December 17 and at around 6 pm, I witnessed Chirimuuta approaching my nephew and asking him for his radio,” he said.
Masara refused to hand over the radio as he wanted his wife to explain how the radio had found its way into their cabin.”
Mr Matambo said that after about five minutes, he met the Gombe and Chirimuuta, who told him that they had been given the radio.
He said Gombe and Chirimuuta had a knife and a small axe.
“Upon arrival at Masara’s cabin, I found him trying to remove his shirt, which was soaked in blood,” he said.
“I asked him what had happened and he informed me that he had been stabbed with a Colombian knife by Gombe and struck with an axe by Chirimuuta,” he said.
Mr Matambo said he alerted other miners who ferried Masara to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on admission.
A report was made to the police, leading to the arrest of Gombe, while Chirimuuta is still at large.
