Life in prison over 50 cents

Grace Kaerasora
A 22-year-old Murewa man will spend life in prison for axing a colleague to death over a USc50 debt — a case that has rattled villagers in the rural district.

Success Kudzotsa was convicted of murdering Tinashe Manyani with actual intent when he appeared before High Court judge Justice Priscilla Chigumba last week. He was also found guilty of taking two cellphones and US$20 from the corpse, which he subsequently dumped in a disused well.

According to the court record, Kudzotsa lent Manyani USc50 in late 2015, but the latter reportedly refused to pay back the money. Part of the record reads, “On December 28, 2015, at Hakata Village (under) Chief Mangwende in Murewa, Mashonaland East Province, Kudzotsa struck Tinashe Brian Manyani several times on the face and on the back of the head with an axe.”

In his defence, Kudzotsa told the court that intoxication had driven him to murder. However, Justice Chigumba dismissed this, saying Kudzotsa committed the heinous deed seven hours after a beer binge; enough time for him to have sobered up.

Justice Chigumba said the court had considered how Kudzotsa struck his victim several times; something any reasonable person knows leads to death.

She said Kudzotsa acted in a cruel, calculated and deliberate manner, adding that by dumping the corpse in a disused well, he wanted to make death certain just in case Manyane was still alive.