Gweru man gets life sentence for murder

Midlands Bureau

HIGH Court Judge, Justice Naison Chivayo, has sentenced a Gweru artisanal miner to life imprisonment for a brutal bar murder.

Courage Hwami (35) of Mkoba 13 high density suburb in Gweru appeared before Justice Chivayo facing one count of murder and another of attempted murder at the Gweru High Court Circuit on Saturday.

Hwami allegedly used an AK-47 Colombia knife to stab two people, including a teenager, resulting in one fatality.

He entered a plea of not guilty to both counts, but was convicted of murder with actual intent and attempted murder after a full trial.

Justice Chivayo handed him a life sentence for the murder charge and a further 10 years for the second count. The sentences will run concurrently.

Hwami claimed that as an artisanal miner he carried a knife or metal rod or some other weapon for protection.

It was the State’s case that on December 4, 2023 around 3am at Vhudzijena Night Club, Mkoba 16 Business Centre, Hwami and the now deceased, Courage Sibanda, had a misunderstanding over an undisclosed issue.

The court heard that Nomore Hove (35), the complainant who was employed as a caretaker intervened and solved the dispute.

After a while Hwami advanced towards Sibanda and stabbed him with an AK-47 Columbia knife once on the left side of the chest and once on the back.

The court heard that Sibanda sustained a deep stab wound on the left side of the chest and a deep stab wound on the right side at the back.

Sibanda ran outside the bar where he collapsed and died.

Hwami then chased Hove outside the bar before stabbing him once on the chest with the same knife and fled the scene towards Mkoba 13 suburb.

Hove was stabbed on the chest and sustained a wound and was refereed to Gweru Provincial Hospital where he was treated and discharged. The matter was reported to the police who arrested Hwami and recovered the AK-47 Columbia knife.

Sibanda’s body was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals.

A full post mortem was conducted by Dr Maibelys Gavilan Acosta who concluded that the cause of death was hypovolemic shock, lungs laceration hemothorax and stab wound chest.