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Munya Musiiwa – Sunday Mail Correspondent
She was the loving mother who did all she could to protect him under her wings.
Though his knack for notoriety hurt her, she remained tender, lavishing him with more love.
This is why Gweru residents are struggling to wrap their minds around the murder of Ms Barbra Sibanda, a warm and affectionate mother-of-four.
At the centre of the tragedy that occurred on December 3, 2015 is her 19-year-old son, Kudakwashe, who is now in police custody as the chief suspect in the killing.
A photograph of him barefooted and in shackles sharply contrasts with that of him and his mother beaming with merriment.
His solitude in that police cell conversely betrays the gory, heinous crime he stands accused of having committed.
The teenager, according to his warned and cautioned statement, murdered his mother because she had refused to give him money and permission to use her vehicle.
He now wants his siblings to forgive and visit him in prison.
In a letter read at Ms Sibanda’s funeral service he said, “I would want to apologise for killing my mother. I am pleading with my brothers and sister to come see me in prison so that I can apologise to them personally. I am truly sorry for what I have done.”
His sister, Audrey, did not say much: “We are still grieving and in shock at the same time. Therefore, there is nothing much to say at the moment.”
December 3 seemed ordinary.
Ms Sibanda was her usual self — bubbly and warm.
She was in the living room that night when Kudakwashe suddenly accosted her with a kitchen knife.
He then ordered her to draw the curtains.
As she turned to beg him not to kill her, he stabbed her several times. He then locked the doors and left.
One of Ms Sibanda’s friends tried to reach her on her cellphone but there was no response, prompting her to conclude that something was amiss.
The friend roped in one Chounlai Chindanga who subsequently visited the home on December 5.
“Chounlai discovered that the house was locked. Barbra was not picking her phone, thereby raising suspicion,” said the friend.
“He opened a window and broke the burglar bar. He quickly alerted police who later found her body in a pool of blood.”
A dark cloud hung over the city as the news broke.
Who could have done this and why?
Many questions, no clues.
The devil’s archer had shot his arrow with deadly precision.
The funeral wake was particularly heart-rending as relatives grieved over a soul they held dear.
Kudakwashe was later arrested in Harare.
He recounts the murder, in this warned and cautioned statement:
“I admit the charge I am facing. I stabbed my mother with a knife in the living room as she had refused to give me her car keys and money. However, this all happened because my uncle cast a spell on me.
“I left her on the living room floor and locked her inside. I then went to the kitchen to wash off the blood on my hands after which I threw the knife into the garage.”
He goes on: “I took mum’s car, heading to my friend’s place in Senga. We returned to our house where I packed some of my clothes and then took the US$150 that Dorcas Murasi owed my mum. Once again, I went home and took a US$100 note in my mother’s purse.
“My friend and I then went to drink beer in town. And in the morning, we went to Harare, alongside another friend, Ronny Madzimure. We returned to Gweru on Saturday morning and went back to Harare at around midday.”
Kudakwashe also says: “In the evening, I got some hitch-hikers at the Harare Exhibition Park as I returned to Gweru. However, I had an accident near the Norton toll gate as I knocked someone down.
“I drove, dumped the car and caught a lift back to Harare on Sunday morning.
“One of my uncle’s friends who knew about what had happened (the murder) later spotted me and asked the kombi driver to stop. They subsequently apprehended me.”
Online Reporter