A Gweru artisanal miner, Courage Hwami (35), has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a brutal attack at Vhudzijena Night Club in Mkoba 16, which resulted in the death of one patron and serious injuries to another. The incident occurred in the early hours of December 4 last year
Hwami appeared before High Court judge, Justice Naison Chivayo, facing charges of murder and attempted murder. He initially pleaded not guilty to both charges but was convicted after a full trial. Justice Chivayo sentenced him to life imprisonment for the murder charge and a further 10 years for attempted murder, the sentences to run concurrently.
The court heard that the attack stemmed from a dispute between Hwami and the deceased, Courage Sibanda, over an undisclosed issue. Nomore Hove, the caretaker of the bar, intervened and resolved the initial altercation.
However, Hwami, armed with an AK-47 Columbia knife, later attacked Sibanda, stabbing him once on the left side of the chest and once on the back.
“Sibanda sustained a deep stab wound on the left side of the chest and a deep stab wound on the right side of the back,” stated the court record.
Despite fleeing the bar, Sibanda collapsed and died from his injuries.
Hwami, not content with the attack on Sibanda, then chased Hove outside the bar, stabbing him once on the chest with the same knife before fleeing towards his home in Mkoba 13. Hove sustained a stab wound to his chest and was treated at Gweru Provincial Hospital before being discharged.
The matter was reported to the police, leading to Hwami’s arrest and the recovery of the murder weapon.
A postmortem examination conducted by Dr Maibelys Gavilan Acosta concluded that Sibanda’s death was caused by hypovolemic shock, lung laceration, hemothorax, and a stab wound to the chest.
Hwami’s defence was that he carried a knife for protection as an artisanal miner. However, the court found him guilty of murder with actual intent and attempted murder, highlighting the brutality of the attack and the danger he posed to the community.