The offender appeared before this court charged with the crime of murdering his wife. After a contested trial, we dismissed his protestations and convicted him of the murder. Briefly, the facts proven at trial were that on the fateful night the offender who had earlier in the day been merry-making with the deceased had together with her consumed an entire 750 ml bottle of gin. That drink had an alcohol volume of up to 43%. The couple later had a misunderstanding over the deceased’s refusal to prepare supper which was expected to have taken place soon after the restoration of... More
Prosper Chagunda of Ndamba village in Mudzi (hereinafter referred to as “the accused”) appeared before us charged with the crime of Murder in contravention of s 47(1) of the Criminal Law( Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] (hereinafter referred to as “the Code”) The allegations against him are that on 22 April 2022 at Mapombo business centre in Mudzi, he unlawfully and intentionally caused the death of Nyasha Mungazi (hereinafter referred to as “ the deceased”) by striking him with a log on the head or realizing that there was a real risk or possibility that death may occur, persisted... More
The five accused persons are charged with murder it being alleged that on 15 of April 2006 acting in consort and common purpose the accused persons unlawfully with intent to kill murdered Onismus Zikumva by stabbing him once in the chest with a knife and assaulting him all over the body with open hands, booted feet and fists. More
All the six accused persons are charged with treason. They are alleged to have conspired to unconstitutionally overthrow the lawful government of Zimbabwe in contravention of s 20 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act [Cap 9:23]. More
A plea of guilty should be genuine,unequivocal and freely made. It should not be accompanied by any explanation which impacts upon the admission of guilty. Once such an explanation props up the plea should be altered to “not guilty”. Despite numerous judgments by this court emphasizing this point the lower courts continue making the same mistake of proceeding with a plea of guilty when evidence points otherwise. This case is yet another example of such a misdirection. More
