Online Reporter
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
TWO United Methodist Church caretakers stationed at Old Mutare Mission appeared before a Mutare magistrate on Wednesday, charged with culpable homicide following the drowning of two Hartzell Central Primary School Early Childhood Development B learners in a disused swimming pool last week.
The suspects, Charles Chigwizura and Andrew Chingono, are facing culpable homicide charges as defined in Section 49 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23), and were remanded in custody to June 26.
The two appeared before provincial magistrate, Ms Anne Ndiraya, who advised them to apply for bail at the High Court.
Mr Passmore Gwizo of Mugadza, Chinzamba and Partners represented the accused, while Mr Chris Munyuku prosecuted.
The incident, which has left the church and wider community in deep mourning, occurred when the two minors gained access to the disused swimming pool.
Mr Munyuku said Chigwizura and Chingono who are employed by the United Methodist Church as caretakers were on duty at the time, and allegedly failed to ensure that the swimming pool area was properly secured, allowing the minors to enter the enclosure unsupervised.
He said their duty was to ensure that the swimming pool was properly secured from the public.
It is alleged that on June 11 at around 1pm, the father of one of the deceased, Devian Andrew Mungazi, went home during lunch hour and discovered that his son had not returned from school.
At around 2pm, Mr Mungazi alerted other teachers about his missing son, and the teachers assisted him to search the school premises.
During the search, the team proceeded to the swimming pool area, and noticed Devian and Lovemore Tendedziso’s satchels beside the disused swimming pool.
Mr Douglas Mapfunde, of Plot 21, Premier, Penhalonga, who was present at the school during the search, dived into the swimming pool, and retrieved Devian Mungazi and Lovemore Tendedziso’s bodies.
The court heard that the two caretakers were supposed to repair panels on the enclosure around the swimming pool to prevent the public from accessing it through that opening.
Mr Munyuku said the pair’s alleged failure to perform their duties resulted in Devian and Lovemore entering the enclosure and subsequently drowning.
The prosecutor argued that the accused persons were negligent in failing to secure the precast opening, given that the swimming pool was on the school premises with children of different ages.
Mr Munyuku said the accused persons should have foreseen that children could use that precast opening to gain access to the swimming pool enclosure.
Meanwhile, UMC District Superintendent, Reverend Sophirina Sign, said the unforeseen incident has left the mission community shattered.
“The incident is so painful. No one knows how this happened, and how the kids entered into the pool. No one was there to witness the tragedy. Personally, I was only informed over the phone that there were two ECD kids who had died after falling into the swimming pool. This was a very painful message, let alone seeing the lifeless bodies of the two children being retrieved from the pool. It is regrettable. We were left in extreme pain because of this incident. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit comforts the bereaved families and the entire Old Mutare Mission community. This incident taught us that we really need to take extra care of our children, especially those in very early grades as ECD,” said Reverend Sign.
