Friend killer jailed 20 years

A HARARE man has been jailed 20 years for killing his friend with a knife after hunting him down to explain rumours over his involvement in a spate of robberies.

Humphrey Mazani stabbed to death his friend Augustine Makoko in the sprawling high density suburb of Ushewokunze on May 20, 2020.

Mazani denied murdering Makoko when his trial opened at the High Court in September last year, but Justice Priscilla Munangati-Manongwa sitting with assessors, convicted him of murder with actual intent, citing the fact that the offence was premeditated.

His claim that he was acting in self-defence could not be sustained given the nature of evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses.

Justice Munangati-Manongwa in her judgment found that all the witnesses’ testimonies were consistent and withstood the rigorous cross-examination.

The court believed their testimonies and ruled the witnesses to be credible.

She said Mazani wanted to cause harm to Makoko as shown by how he and his relatives had hunted the man down during the day up until the encounter at their smoking base.

“The stabbing of the deceased was the final act of the premeditation to harm the deceased,” said Justice

Munangati-Manongwa. “The court thus finds the accused guilty of murder.”

Though Mazani, through his legal counsel, had during mitigation implored the court to impose a shorter prison sentence, the judge threw out the plea.

She said a 20-year term was appropriate in the circumstances.

Justice Munangati-Manongwa said it was the court’s duty to ensure that vulnerable members of society were protected from like-minded persons by incarcerating such individuals for a lengthy period of time with the hope that they get rehabilitated and learn to place value on life.