Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku, [email protected]
A 25-YEAR-OLD man from Filabusi under Chief Maduna in Matabeleland South who was being accused of killing his 31-year- old stepbrother over a R200 debt, has been acquitted of murder by a Bulawayo High Court.
Polite Gumbo was acquitted by Justice Ngoni Nduna who ruled that there was no evidence linking him to the offence.
Gumbo’s lawyer, Mr Dereck Kosam presented a strong defence, arguing that his client was wrongly implicated.
“The accused was drinking beer with the now-deceased at Mandeveni Bush Park Mine, Collen Bawn. The accused person then left to a nearby toilet and came back only to find the now-deceased lying on the ground, and saw a man who was sitting next to them running away. The accused person then followed the unidentified man trying to find out what had happened, but could not catch up with him. He then went to his home,” Mr Kosam said.
He told the court that the accused only learnt of his stepbrother’s death later and was not aware of the developments immediately after the incident.
“On the 12th day of March 2025, the accused was informed by his mother that his step brother had passed on. That same week, he left for Bulawayo, where he stayed with his aunt in Bulawayo’s Makokoba suburb, and was informed from home that a story was cooked up by a man named Nkosinesisa claiming that the accused had assaulted the now-deceased, and that the police were looking for him. His mother then advised him to report to the nearest police station, and he handed himself to Mzilikazi Police Station, where he was arrested,” said Mr Kosam.
In his ruling, Justice Nduna said the State had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt hence he acquitted Gumbo of the murder charge.
Justice Nduna said there was no evidence linking the accused to the offence.
“There is no one who saw the accused committing the crime, and there is no eyewitness who was called by the State to testify to that effect. The investigating officer told the court that a key witness refused to come. The matter was poorly investigated, and there are glaring inconsistencies,” he said.
Justice Nduna said he had taken into account the defence’s claims that the accused was assaulted by the police in an attempt to force a confession. He said the argument was credible and as such the accused might have been coerced into admitting to a crime he did not commit.
The State represented by Ms Tarisai Mutarisi had alleged that there was a misunderstanding between the accused and the deceased over an R200 debt.
She told the court that on 7 March 2025, at around 7pm, the accused and the deceased were drinking beer together at Mandeveni Bush Park Mine compound in Collen Bawn.
“A misunderstanding arose between them over R200 that the deceased owed the accused. During the dispute, the accused allegedly picked up a log and struck the deceased once on the left side of his head. The deceased fell headlong to the ground and lost consciousness, after which the accused dropped the
log and fled the scene,” said Ms Mutarisi.
Following the incident, a case of assault was reported at ZRP Collen Bawn leading to the deceased being taken to Gwanda Hospital for treatment.
The court heard that his condition worsened the following day.
“On March 8, 2025, his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, where he later died,” said Ms Mutarisi.
A post-mortem examination conducted on 11 March 2025 confirmed that the cause of death was severe traumatic brain damage, multiple skull fractures, and intracranial haemorrhages.
