Mike Mashiri- Court Correspondent
Zimbabwe’s courts are handing down heavy sentences as a wave of brutal killings grips communities across the country, exposing a worrying surge in violent crime often linked to anger, jealousy, and robbery.
In the latest cases, two Mutare men — Brighton Gowero, 29, and Takunda Makoni, 21, — were each sentenced to 45 years in prison for the murder of Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services officer Tapiwa Mutyasira, 29.
The pair, along with an accomplice still at large, ambushed the officer, stole his phones, and dumped his body on the Mutare–Harare railway line to cover their tracks. A goods train later ran over the remains, after the driver mistook the body for debris.
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In Gokwe, 21-year-old Lloyd Makanje was sentenced to 30 years after a drunken confrontation ended with him stabbing Shingirirai Shava, 44, in the neck at a local beer shed. Witnesses told the court that Shava staggered about twenty metres before collapsing, while Makanje was subdued by bystanders.
In another case, also from Gokwe, 46-year-old Edviva Muchena received a life sentence for murdering his girlfriend, Sambulelo Letha, 29, after an argument. He stabbed her multiple times with an okapi knife, leaving her to die on the roadside.
Police statistics show a sharp rise in murder and violent assault cases in recent months, with many incidents rooted in domestic disputes, petty theft, or drinking-related altercations.
Some Zimbabweans on social media have called for the return of capital punishment saying that a stronger deterrent than mere imprisonment is clearly needed to remind people of the sanctity of life. They also argue that the expense on the taxpayer of keeping murders in prison can be reduced with the death sentence.
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