Published: 2013 September 10 22:07:43 (6844 Views)

Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha yesterday reserved to today, judgement in the application for permanent stay of execution by a Kezi man who allegedly axed his girlfriend Memory Nobukhosi Ndlovu to death 12 years ago.

The trial of Vincent Dube (39) of Ratanyana, Zimbabwe, started in May and his pro deo lawyer Mr Innocent Mafirakureva, had applied for the case to be thrown out on the basis that there has been a lapse of time which he said was prejudicial to his client.

He based his application on the fact that the State had failed to bring Dube to court for trial for more than 10 years.

Justice Kamocha after hearing submissions by the State counsel Mr Whisper Mabhaudhi, from the Attorney General's Office, postponed the matter.

The State and defence counsel agreed that events that transpired from the day of Dube's arrest in 2001 to the day he was brought to court early this year were not disputable.

Mr Mafirakureva said his client did not escape but he only relocated for three months because of the sour relations with the village head over the alleged murder.

In his submissions, Mr Mabhaudhi said the court risked losing its credibility if it granted the application considering the nature of the case, which he said was likely to carry a capital punishment sentence.

"The court should look at the nature of the case in this application for permanent stay of execution. The accused is facing a callous murder which he is admitting that he struck the deceased twice in a domestic dispute. It is trite that in common law that murder does not have prescription," said Mr Mabhaudhi.

He lamented the delay in completing murder cases at the High Court in Bulawayo, adding that people would lose faith in the justice system if the application is granted or the matter is further delayed. "

Finalisation of cases in the Bulawayo High Court is apparently taking too long because of the structural arrangement where all cases from Matabeleland South, North and Bulawayo are dealt with in one courtroom.

"On average, our term has only 23 matters set down because of non availability of courtroom space.

"The State would also like the court to consider the difficult economic situation a few years ago, which affected availability of resources.

"During the second term only five cases were finalised and these ones we are doing are resets. There are some cases that are still in the system that I am privy to. The court should therefore consider the interest of the society," said Mr Mabhaudhi.

He said there was no irretrievable prejudice on Dube because of lapse of time while Mr Mafirakureva said his client had been prejudiced socially as there is doubt on the presumption of innocence in his community.

- Newsbite

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