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Court Reporter
BULAWAYO High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha yesterday reserved judgment to today in the application for permanent stay of execution by a Kezi man who allegedly axed his girlfriend to death 12 years ago.The trial of Vincent Dube (39), of Ratanyana under Chief Nyangazonke, started in May and his pro deo lawyer Mr Innocent Mafirakureva, of Mlweli Ndlovu and Associates Legal Practitioners applied for a permanent stay of execution arguing that it had taken too long to bring his client to trial and the trial now was therefore prejudicial to his client.
Justice Kamocha adjourned the case to today after hearing submissions from Mr Whisper Mabhaudhi from the Attorney General’s Office.
Mr Mabhaudhi agreed that events that transpired from the day of Dube’s arrest in 2001 to the day he was brought to court early this year were not disputable.
Mr Mafirakureva said his client did not runaway from the police but only relocated and was away for three months as there was bad blood between him and the village head.
In his submissions, Mr Mabhaudhi said the court risked losing its credibility if it granted the application considering the gravity of the offence.
“The court should consider the nature of the case in this application for permanent stay of execution. The accused is facing murder charges. He is admitting that he struck the deceased twice in a domestic dispute,” said Mr Mabhaudhi.
He lamented the delay in completing murder cases at the High Court in Bulawayo saying people would lose faith in the justice delivery system if the application was granted or the matter was further delayed.
“Finalisation of cases at the Bulawayo High Court is taking too long because of the structural arrangement where all cases from Matabeleland South, North and Bulawayo are dealt with in one courtroom.
“On average, our term has only 23 matters set down because of non availability of courtroom space. The State would also like the court to consider the difficult economic situation a few years ago, which affected availability of resources.
“During the second term only five cases were finalised and these ones we are dealing with are resets. There are some cases that are still in the system that I am privy to. The court should therefore consider the interest of the society,” said Mr Mabhaudhi.
He said there was no prejudice on Dube because of lapse of time but Mr Mafirakureva insisted that his client had been prejudiced.
Dube is accused of killing his wife Memory Nobukhosi Ndlovu, who was 19 years old in 2001.
He allegedly struck her twice on the back of the head with the axe and left it stuck on her head.
Dube suspected that his wife was cheating on him with a teacher, Mr David Nunu.
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