16 YEARS FOR STABBING A FELLOW COUNTRYMAN TO DEATH
Proud Makuni (33) from Zimbabwean has been sentenced by the Mothibistad Regional Court after having been found guilty of murder and Contravening Section 49(1)(a) of the Immigration Act. On 08 August 2022, Philip Kashere a fellow Zimbabwean national (the victim) found the accused, his countryman and four other people sitting together in a room at a drinking house and drinking alcohol in the village of Mapoteng near Mothibistad. Kashere tried to join the group and the owner of the drinking spot asked that they sit properly to accommodate the victim who was drinking while standing.
It was during this time that the accused made remarks that no one should touch him, and a brief conversation took place between the accused and the victim in their native Shona language. The accused was witnessed taking out a knife and began to stab the victim. The forensic report detailed that the victim had 6 stab wounds in the back, head as well as upper arm. The victim succumbed to his injuries, the police were called, and the accused was arrested. The accused pleaded not guilty and denied stabbing the deceased saying he found the victim dead after coming back from buying cigarettes. He said one of the witnesses must have been the one who stabbed the Kashere.
The Regional Court Prosecutor Kekeletso Lekota argued that the court should find the accused guilty as he did not show any remorse as he pleaded not guilty to taking another man’s life. That the accused killed his countryman without any provocation. There were no substantial and compelling reasons for the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence. In sentencing, the accused was sentenced to 16 years of direct imprisonment for murder and 2 years of direct imprisonment for being illegal in the country. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently, and the accused was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The National Prosecuting Authority continues through prosecutions of murder cases to emphasize the importance of human life and will therefore be vigorous in its pursuit of these types of cases to serve as a deterrent to would-be murderers.
