News / National
Zanu-PF senior members nabbed for kidnapping two little girls
08 Nov 2013 at 04:07hrs | Views
TWO aspiring Zanu PF candidates in the July 31 Kadoma council elections and three other party members who kidnapped two little girls with the intention of killing them for ritual purposes ahead of the polls have been jailed.
Chipo Muradi (54) and Dominic Musapurwa (56), both losing council candidates in Kadoma's wards 17 and 11 respectively were convicted of two counts of kidnapping together with Zanu PF Waverly district chairperson Odrina Gwengwe (51), Kaiser Ncube (69) and Joyce Watyoka (50).
Magistrate Richard Ramaboe slapped the five with varying sentences based on the role they played in the subsequent kidnapping of the two nine-year-old twins in the botched killings.
Gwengwe and Muradi were each slapped with 12-month prison terms before the court suspended six months on condition of good behaviour.
Watyoka and Ncube were each slapped with 10-month prison terms, but will serve four months after six months were suspended.
The ring leader and mastermind of the deal, Musapurwa will serve nine months of his 15-month sentence after six months were suspended.
In passing sentence, Ramaboe castigated the Zanu PF officials of being archaic to the point of believing that spilling innocent blood could help them win elections.
He said he was dismayed by Watyoka, a war veteran who had served her country, but in the end failed the community by kidnapping the two juveniles.
"The second accused (Watyoka) is a war veteran who served her country, but failed her community at the end by kidnapping children for rituals," said Ramaboe.
He also noted that the two children who were forced to attend ritual ceremonies by the accused persons would never be the same as they had suffered trauma.
"While there is no scientific evidence to indicate that the two suffered any emotional trauma as a result of the kidnapping and subsequent rituals, it is clear that their lives will never be the same again and that the experience shook them" he said before passing sentence.
It was the State's case that Gwengwe and her accomplices took her tenant's twin daughters to a traditional healer named in court as Christopher Maduchwa on July 15 at around 6pm.
The State further alleges that when they arrived at Maduchwa's shrine, the five ordered the girls to remove their shoes and then sprinkled them with snuff.
It is alleged that Maduchwa did not proceed with the ritual to spill the two girls' blood as he indicated sensing a supernatural force protecting them.
Maduchwa is still at large.
The five represented by Tinashe Matiyashe had pleaded not guilty to the charge saying the parents of the little girls had given the green light to have their children attend the rituals.
Matiyashe said he would note an appeal against both conviction and sentence because he strongly believed that his clients did not commit any offence.
Charles Muchemwa appeared for the State.
Chipo Muradi (54) and Dominic Musapurwa (56), both losing council candidates in Kadoma's wards 17 and 11 respectively were convicted of two counts of kidnapping together with Zanu PF Waverly district chairperson Odrina Gwengwe (51), Kaiser Ncube (69) and Joyce Watyoka (50).
Magistrate Richard Ramaboe slapped the five with varying sentences based on the role they played in the subsequent kidnapping of the two nine-year-old twins in the botched killings.
Gwengwe and Muradi were each slapped with 12-month prison terms before the court suspended six months on condition of good behaviour.
Watyoka and Ncube were each slapped with 10-month prison terms, but will serve four months after six months were suspended.
The ring leader and mastermind of the deal, Musapurwa will serve nine months of his 15-month sentence after six months were suspended.
In passing sentence, Ramaboe castigated the Zanu PF officials of being archaic to the point of believing that spilling innocent blood could help them win elections.
He said he was dismayed by Watyoka, a war veteran who had served her country, but in the end failed the community by kidnapping the two juveniles.
"The second accused (Watyoka) is a war veteran who served her country, but failed her community at the end by kidnapping children for rituals," said Ramaboe.
He also noted that the two children who were forced to attend ritual ceremonies by the accused persons would never be the same as they had suffered trauma.
"While there is no scientific evidence to indicate that the two suffered any emotional trauma as a result of the kidnapping and subsequent rituals, it is clear that their lives will never be the same again and that the experience shook them" he said before passing sentence.
It was the State's case that Gwengwe and her accomplices took her tenant's twin daughters to a traditional healer named in court as Christopher Maduchwa on July 15 at around 6pm.
The State further alleges that when they arrived at Maduchwa's shrine, the five ordered the girls to remove their shoes and then sprinkled them with snuff.
It is alleged that Maduchwa did not proceed with the ritual to spill the two girls' blood as he indicated sensing a supernatural force protecting them.
Maduchwa is still at large.
The five represented by Tinashe Matiyashe had pleaded not guilty to the charge saying the parents of the little girls had given the green light to have their children attend the rituals.
Matiyashe said he would note an appeal against both conviction and sentence because he strongly believed that his clients did not commit any offence.
Charles Muchemwa appeared for the State.
Source - Southern Eye
