Zimbabwe man to hang for killing white farmer

Zimbabwe man to hang for killing white farmer

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By Lebo Nkatazo

A ZIMBABWEAN man will pay with his life for the murder of a white commercial farmer after a High Court judge sentenced him to death by hanging Tuesday.

Munetsi Kadzinga killed Bindura farmer Charles Anderson in 2002 during an armed robbery. His accomplice, Benedict Makumbe is still at large.

During his trial, Kadzinga implicated Zimbabwe's then Home Affairs Minister and now Speaker of Parliament John Nkomo as the supplier of the gun used during the killing.

Kadzinga told the court during trial that Makumbe had told him that Nkomo, also chairman of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party, wanted them to intimidate the white farmer out of the property, but they ended up killing him when he found them in his house.

Sergeant Joseph Nemaisa who led the police team probing the murder said during investigations, he heard that the weapon was obtained from one of Nkomo's aides.

However, Justice Patel dismissed both Kadzinga's and Nemaisa's submissions.

The judge did not summon Nkomo to give his side of the story.

Makumbe is believed to have escaped to Malawi.

Kadzinga's lawyer Shepherd Matsika said he was not sure whether they would appeal against both the sentence and the conviction.

At least 12 commercial farmers were killed in Zimbabwe during the government's often violent land seizures spearheaded by independence war veterans.

Most commercial farmers fled their properties fearing for their lives, plunging Zimbabwe's agriculture industry into crisis.
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