Online Reporter
Peter Matika, [email protected]
TWO brothers have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of an Entumbane taxi driver last June. Justice Namato Mutevedzi handed down the sentence after the pair were found guilty of killing Christopher Dama before stealing his Honda Fit. They received an additional 20 years for the robbery.
Dama was a prominent figure in Entumbane suburb, where he used to have regular shifts at a local sports bar.
The court ruled that the crime was premeditated and committed during the course of a robbery.
The two accused, Ketai Nhanha and Jenfat Manamike, both from Gokwe, were arrested last year for the gruesome murder of Dama, which shocked the Entumbane community.
The two were convicted of murder and robbery after a full trial.
Nhanha denied the charge of murder but admitted to the charge of robbery while Manamike pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The accused murdered Dama along Emcwazini Road in the Figtree area, Bulilima district in Matabeleland South on the night of June 19. The pair axed Dama several times on the head and neck before driving away in his car, leaving his body in the bush.
Dama’s body was discovered by a villager who alerted the police.
Nhanha was arrested by Gwanda CID officers on 25 June following a tip-off after he was seen driving the stolen Honda Fit.
Prosecuting, Thobekani Nyathi told the court that Dama was 34 years old at the time he was gruesomely murdered. He said the late Dama was approached by the pair under the pretext of hiring his taxi for a trip from Bulawayo to Mncwazi Village.
Mr Nyathi said that during the journey, just before the tollgate along the Bulawayo-Plumtree Highway, the pair directed Dama to a bushy area off the road. There, they axed him in the back of the head.
After the gruesome murder, the suspects drove the deceased’s car back to his home in Entumbane, where they collected a bag containing some clothes before driving off.
Mr Tinashe Tashaya of Sengweni Legal Service represented Nhanha, while Miss Kathleen Mpofu of Webb Law and Barry represented Manamike.
