Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku, [email protected]
A 25-YEAR-OLD man from Filabusi under Chief Maduna in Matabeleland South has been acquitted of murder after being accused of killing his 31-year-old stepbrother in a violent dispute over a R200 debt.
Polite Gumbo appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Ngoni Nduna, on Friday.
He was represented by his lawyer, Mr Dereck Kosam, who mounted a strong defence.
“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.
Mr Kosam further submitted that the accused only became aware of his stepbrother’s death later.
“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,” he said.
At the close of the trial, Justice Nduna found Gumbo not guilty and acquitted him.
In delivering the ruling, the judge said: “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.”
Justice Nduna further noted that the defence argument that the accused had been assaulted by police to extract a confession was credible and showed that he had been coerced into admitting to an offence he did not commit.
Prosecuting, Ms Tarisai Mutarisi told the court that on March 7, 2025, at around 7pm, the stepbrothers were drinking beer together at Mandeveni Bush Park Mine compound in Collen Bawn.
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“A misunderstanding arose between them over R200 that the deceased owed to 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.
A report of assault was subsequently made at ZRP Collen Bawn, and the deceased was rushed to Gwanda Hospital, where he was admitted.
The court heard that on March 8, 2025, his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, where he later died.
“A post-mortem examination conducted on 11 March 2025 concluded that the cause of death was severe traumatic brain damage, multiple skull fractures, and intracranial haemorrhages resulting from a callous assault,” said Ms Mutarisi.
A witness, Milton Moyo, from Chiedza Village under Chief Mtevayidzi in Mberengwa, testified that on the night in question at around 8pm, he was inside his hut when he heard noises outside.
“Upon going out to investigate, he spotted the accused running away from the scene while the deceased lay unconscious on the ground. The witness lifted the deceased from the ground and summoned the deceased’s brothers,
Nkosinesisa Ncube and Tapson Moyo. The brothers arrived swiftly and ferried the unconscious to ZRP Collen Bawn,” she told the court.
