Harare, (New Ziana) – Seeking spiritual cleansing
failed to save Alfred Ngwenya (24) of Bulawayo from facing justice for
the murder of love rival as he was arrested at the Silobela shrine of an
apostolic sect where he sought to be cleansed.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ),
Ngwenya was, however, lucky after the Bulawayo High Court agreed to his
plea offer for a lesser charge of culpable homicide for which he was
sentenced to an effective four years imprisonment.

He was initially sentenced to seven years imprisonment but the court
conditionally suspended three years of the jail term for five years.

The circumstances are that on November 15, 2023 around 3am, Ngwenya and
the now-deceased had a misunderstanding over a sex worker. This led to a
fight and Ngwenya stabbed his victim twice on the thigh and on the back
after which he fled from the scene.

About an hour later, a passerby discovered the now-deceased in a pool of
blood and made a report. Investigations led to Ngwenya’s arrest in
Silobela while he was being “cleansed” at an apostolic shrine. He led
the police to the recovery of an AK 47 rifle.

Meanwhile, Richard Nhenda (48) of Kuwadzana, Harare, was sentenced to
six years imprisonment by the Mbare Magistrates’ Court for attempted
murder.

Circumstances are that, on November 1 last year around 7 PM, Nhenda
approached Simbarashe Musiwa at his vending stall in the company of
three male adults.

A mêlée ensued during which Nhenda assaulted the complainant with a
hammer on the mouth once and again on the head.

In a related case, Solomon Ndlovu Mutombeni of Zvishavane has been
sentenced to 35 years by the Midlands High Court Circuit in Gweru for
the murder of Tinashe Siziba (22).

The incident occurred on June 10, 2019 at Muneme Bottle Store around
10.45 PM.

Mutombeni and Siziba of Mapolisa Village, chief Mafala in Zvishavane
were both drinking at the bottle store when a misunderstanding arose
between them.

Mutombeni drew out a kitchen knife and Siziba took to his heels with the
former in hot pursuit. Mutombeni caught up with Siziba about 50 metres
from the bottle store and stabbed him 14 times resulting in his bowls
gashing out and collapsing to the ground. Siziba died on the way to
hospital and Mutombeni was arrested.

New Ziana