Online Reporter
THERE are many ways of dealing with a village dispute.
You can sit down with the elders.
You can approach the village head and have a civil conversation.
You can even take the matter to the police if things get out of hand.
But for one Wellington Dzingisai (30), the best solution was to go to the village head’s homestead armed with a knife and stab him three times.
Dzingisai, of Mukamba village in Zvishavane, turned what appeared to have been a dispute over reports that the village head was making to the police about him into an attempted murder case.
He also added a property damage charge for good measure.
The Gweru Magistrates’ Court has since convicted and sentenced him to an effective 54 months in prison.
And the irony of the case is almost too tempting to ignore.
The court heard that Dzingisai was unhappy because his village head kept reporting his presence to the police whenever he returned to the area.
Instead of asking why the village head kept reporting him or finding a peaceful way of resolving the matter, he decided to demonstrate exactly why the village head might have had concerns about him in the first place.
On August 7, Dzingisai found his way to the village head’s homestead.
He allegedly threatened to kill him before producing a knife.
He then stabbed him twice in the chest and once in the abdomen.
But he was not yet finished.
He went outside and began trying to destroy the village head’s house, damaging 14 windowpanes and the main door.
All told, the damage amounted to US$210.
Having done enough damage for one evening, Dzingisai fled.
The injured village head was rushed to hospital while a police report was also made.
The Gweru Magistrates’ Court sentenced him to 84 months in prison.
However, 24 months were suspended for five years on condition he does not commit a similar offence during that period.
A further six months were suspended on condition he pays restitution of US$210 for the damaged property.
That left Dzingisai with an effective 54 months behind bars.
So, in the end, he achieved exactly the opposite of what he apparently wanted.
If his objective was to make the police stop hearing about him, it was spectacularly unsuccessful.
If anything, he has now made sure the police, the courts and the entire village have a much more reason to forever remember his name.
