Justice Mawadze of the High Court in Masvingo has sentenced award winning Masvingo dancehall chanter Elias Chimbuya (26) to life in prison for the murder of Tafadzwa Chiumba (35) over a twist of dagga.
Justice Mawadze said Moyo was slaughtered like an animal and described the murder as callous in his three-hour long judgment. He attributed the action of the accused to drug abuse.
Chimbuya together with an accomplice, stabbed Adonia Moyo (28) several times and hit him with 17 bricks on the head until they crashed his face. The two mutilated the deceased’s manhood and cut it with a knife until they left it hanging on a thin skin.
All this was over a US$0,50 twist of mbanje.
Justice Mawadze urged authorities to take into serious account and act on the abuse of drugs in Zimbabwe as this was the cause of the murder. He said the most heinous crimes in the country are being committed by youth under the influence of drugs. Chimbuya and Moyo also told the court that they were intoxicated and had been smoking dagga.
Justice Mawadze said in his ruling that Chiumba bought a twist of mbanje from the accused for US$0,50. He handed over US$5 and he got his attackers upset when he asked for his US$4, 50 change.
“The inhuman conduct is cruel and even animals killed for meat are not slaughtered in such a manner. The deceased only bought a sachet of dagga from you and he even paid for it. You could have slapped him in the face or run away as you claimed in your testimony. Authorities should look into drug abuse because most heinous crimes are being committed by drug abusing youth,” said Justice Mawadze in delivering judgment.
The incident happened on July 15, 2021 at Zambezi Bar at Dunira 1 Mall, Victoria Ranch were the three were drinking beer.
