Trio get combined 146 years imprisonment for robbery, attempted murder

Harare, (New Ziana) –Two brothers aged 39 and 32 and their 40-year-old accomplice have been sentenced to a combined 146 years imprisonment for a spate of robberies and attempted murder.

A Harare magistrate convicted and sentenced the trio of Darlington Maruba, William Boka and Kudakwashe Boka on robbery and attempted murder charges. A fourth person, Nikholai Machaka (28), suspected to have been involved in the crimes and was jointly charged with the trio, was acquitted and discharged.

In a statement, the National Prosecution Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) said Maruba and the Boka brothers faced 31 counts of robbery committed in aggravating circumstances and four counts of attempted murder.

The offences were committed during the period extending from July 2020 to September 2021 during which they committed a spate of robberies targeting motorists along major roads, pedestrians and homes in and around Harare.

They targeted motorists whose vehicles had broken down along Seke Road, Glenara Avenue, Samora Machel Avenue, Mutare Road and Mundy Road in Hillside.

The trio used a 9mm Star pistol, an okapi knife, a small axe and a Toyota RunX motor vehicle to rob their victims. One of the complainants was shot in the head while another was shot in the right thigh. The accused person also mugged a police officer and stole his ZRP ID card.

During one of the robberies, the three men pretended to be police officers to gain the complainant’s trust before robbing him at home.

Maruba was convicted on 6 counts and sentenced to 52 years imprisonment effectively, William Boka was convicted on 9 counts and sentenced to a total of 86 years imprisonment, while the younger Boka was convicted on two counts and sentenced to an effective 8 years imprisonment.

The Toyota RunX motor vehicle which was used to commit the crimes was forfeited to the State. Meanwhile, Henry Kudakwashe Phiri (22) of Beitbridge was sentenced to 6 years after being convicted of attempted murder by a local magistrate.

Phiri was convicted for poisoning his four-year-old neighbour on May 28 this year because there was bad blood between their families. The toddler had visited Phiri’s family residence to play with his niece who is also a minor.

Phiri hated the toddler because she kept coming to their house to play when there was a history of bad blood between the two families so he deliberately gave her a poisonous pill and a bottle of water and told her to swallow it. The toddler complied and after taking the pill she started vomiting.

She told her mother about the incident and she was immediately taken to Beitbridge Hospital where organophosphate poisoning was detected in the pill that she was given, leading to Phiri’s arrest.

Phiri will however serve an effective five years behind bars after one year of his sentence was conditionally suspended for five years.

New Ziana