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Leonard Ncube Senior Court Reporter
A 20-year-old Gwanda man who allegedly bludgeoned a neighbour to death with a knobkerrie in a fight over whisky heaved a sigh of relief yesterday when the murder charge was reduced to assault. Tawanda Nkomo had further reason to celebrate when Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha fined him $150 or 50 days in prison.
The judge also gave him a wholly suspended five-month sentence.
Justice Kamocha said there was no link between the cause of death outlined in the post-mortem report and the police report.
The post-mortem showed that Nkosinomsa Mafu, 49, died of cervical spine fracture.
Justice Kamocha said it had been established in court that Nkomo hit Mafu with a knobkerrie once on the neck on January 3, 2012.
The court was left with a finding that the other injuries could have been inflicted by other assailants but there was no evidence in court.
The judge said it was also mind boggling that witnesses, Ernest Bhebhe, at whose homestead the assault occurred where there was ilima, and Alson Tshuma seemed to be hiding something.
Nkomo told the court in his defence that Mafu was assaulted by Augustine Dube and Busani Ndlovu, but witnesses said they were not aware of the assault.
Said Justice Kamocha: “I considered that you are a first offender who had been incarcerated for five months before trial and there is evidence that you were intoxicated on the fateful day.
“You gave one blow only but this is yet another case where a young person assaults an adult, a message should be sent that assaults using lethal weapons are prevalent. Had it not been for the above mitigatory features, you could have gone to jail.”
Nkomo, Mafu and five other men gathered at Bhebhe’s homestead outside GwandaTown for collective labour on January 3, 2012 to weed his field.
At around 10AM, they sat under a tree to drink opaque beer, which was being distributed by Mafu.
Prosecuting, Timothy Makoni said a misunderstanding arose between Mafu and Nkomo, after the former suggested that a 750ml bottle of whisky be diluted.
Nkomo, a Form One drop-out, was incensed by Mafu’s refusal to dilute the whisky, and went to his homestead and came back armed with a knobkerrie which he used to assault Nkomo while the other imbibers watched helplessly.
Nkomo tried in vain to implicate Dube and Ndlovu as the court felt there was no evidence.
Nozabelo Ndlovu represented Nkomo pro deo.
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