Some people in Murehwa have welcomed the death sentence imposed on Tafadzwa Shamba and Tapiwa Makore Sr for the brutal murder of Tapiwa Makore Jr in 2020.
Tapiwa was only 7 years old when he was murdered by his uncle and namesake Tapiwa Sr and his herdsman, Shamba on 17 September 2020 in Nyamutumbu Village.
Speaking to ZBC News on Wednesday, 13 July, one of the Murehwa community members, said:
I welcome the development and the government has done the wonderful thing. I am so excited that justice has been served today.
I have no regret about those two. The sentence has brought relief and all the time I was blaming the government, but today that I’m grateful that justice has been served.
When Tapiwa was murdered I was traumatised, and I spent more than six months in bed but today am happy. What Tapiwa Makore Senior did is unforgivable.
The garden which Tapiwa Jr was looking after on the day he was murdered has reportedly been abandoned with no one taking care of it.
Another Murehwa villager said the murderers have no right to live, saying they murdered Tapiwa Jr as if they were killing an animal. Said the villager:
Since I was born, this is my first time to hear such things. It’s so sad that someone can kill a person like he is killing a cow, so we are happy with the sentence. Tapiwa and Tafadzwa must also die the same way or rot in jail.
Tapiwa’s remains were buried six months after his callous murder without his head, which is yet to be located.
Shamba and Tapiwa Sr were both found guilty of the boy’s murder by High Court judge Justice Mutevedzi on Thursday, 29 June.
When Tafadzwa Shamba first appeared before a Murehwa magistrate, he narrated how he gruesomely murdered the boy.
He, however, later retracted his statement, saying the Police tricked him to make indications implicating Tapiwa Makore Senior as his accomplice.
But in his ruling, Justice Mutevedzi said Shamba confessed to the murder and described in detail how it was done. He ruled:
Shamba is guilty beyond reasonable doubt as required by the law. Shamba be and is hereby found guilty for the murder of Tapiwa while Makore Snr is found guilty for the murder of Tapiwa as an accomplice.
The court is satisfied that the statement by Shamba was acceptable and confirms that he committed the offence.
He explained in graphic detail. That detail elaborates his intimate details regarding commission of the crime.
The first accused (Shamba’s) situation is compounded by other issues.
He did not only confess, he made indications, he pointed to a house the boy was detained, the container which was containing the illicit brew was also found in the same house…
Accused one (Shamba’s) fate is sealed by the fact that body parts were found through his confession.
The victim was detained in his house. He supplied alcohol which was used to drug the victim.
The question which arises is if he supplied means for Shamba to commit this offence. The child was locked in his house for long hours, in fact for around 8 hrs.
It is unimaginable that he wouldn’t have noticed the presence of the boy in his house.
Tapiwa’s mother, Linda Munyori, said that while scars from her son’s murder may never fully fade, at least justice had been served.
More: Pindula News