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Sharon Chiware Midlands Reporter
Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Francis Bere on Wednesday last week sensationally told a man accused of murdering a fellow patron that “you will not escape the spirit of the dead”, as he acquitted him. Justice Bere had just acquitted Mathias Muzvondiwa (21) who was a teenager at the time of committing the offence in 2015 for murdering the late Fanuel Makwanya, when he told him that the inconsistent statements from witnesses could have helped him escape a jail term, but that the spirit of the dead would haunt him

“You might have escaped a jail term, but remember you have not escaped the spirit of the dead,” he said. “It will haunt you.”

Muzvondiwa of Mateko Village, Chirumhanzu, who was represented pro-deo by Ms Lillian Mavhondo of Mvura, Mavhondo and Partners, had pleaded not guilty to murder. Justice Bere, sitting with the assessors Meissers Wellington Matemba and Chipo Junior Baye, found extenuating circumstances and inconsistencies in the case in which Muzvondiwa was accused of stabbing a fellow patron following a beer brawl.

In his ruling, the High Court Judge said Muzvondiwa, who was previously convicted of assault following the same circumstances, managed to maintain the fact that the deceased, Fanuel Makwanya, had been stabbed by a fellow patron known as Coaster who managed to flee from the crime scene. He said the evidence which was given by all the witnesses was contradictory and lost the sequence of the events which took place on that particular night.

He also said the investigation officer, as well as the State, overlooked the consistent statements which they were given by Muzvondiwa. The prosecutor Mr Mirirai Shumba told the court that on 4 November 2015 at around 9pm, Muzvondiwa, Robert Majoni, Wellington Muzvondiwa and other patrons were at Muwani Business Centre drinking beer at Chiruve Bottle Store.

A misunderstanding then arose over the type of music to be played in that bar. At that time, Majoni stood up to stop Muzvondiwa from pushing Makwanya out of the bottle store. In turn, Wellington Muzvondiwa also stood up and pushed Majoni and they all ended up out of the bottle store. Makwanya was exchanging harsh words with Muzvondiwa who allegedly stabbed him on the chest.