Deceased’s friends pray for closure

H-Metro Reporter

THE friends of slain police officer, Gift Kawishi, are praying for closure.

The suspect, William Mutsiwa Hukuimwe (55), has been on bail for the last four years.

His case is one of the 37, which were partly heard, before the dismissal of High Court Judge, Justice Erica Ndewere, last year.

Those cases now await re-trial following the expulsion of Justices Ndewere and Thompson Mabhikwa for misconduct.

Hukuimwe is alleged to have shot dead Kawishi, who was based at Harare Central Police Station, on January 1, 2018, at Chitowa Business Centre in Murehwa.

This, according to court papers, followed an altercation which had broken out at the accused’s bar, involving the now deceased.

It is alleged that on January 1, 2018, and at around 1am, Kawishi was drinking beer when he had a misunderstanding with another patron, only identified as Stavo, which degenerated into a fistfight.

The deceased was struck once on the head with an empty bottle and started bleeding from the resultant wound.

In the heat of the physical confrontation between the parties, Hukuimwe allegedly intervened and assaulted Kawishi with a baton, which he had taken from his Mercedes Benz.

However, the accused was overpowered by the deceased who wrestled the baton from him and used it to assault Hukuimwe.

The accused rushed back to his car where he armed himself with an FN Browning Pistol, serial number 172181, and corked it.

The accused fired one shot, to try and scare off the deceased. But, the deceased kept advancing, wrestled with the accused, who then fired two shots, which hit him in the chest. The police officer died on the spot.

The accused then called Murehwa Police Station to inform them of the incident.

The suspect was initially granted bail in January, of the same year, with strict reporting conditions at Mabelreign Police Station.

However, in June 2018, Hukuimwe’s bail conditions were relaxed and he was handed back his passport and ordered to report every last Friday of each month at Mabelreign Police Station.

Kawishi’s friends are praying for closure.

“We lost one of our own, four years ago, and there is no closure on the case right now.

“What we are praying for is closure.

“We cannot say a lot in a case which is before the courts of law but what we are seeking is simply closure,” said one of the late policeman’s friends.