By Kwedu News
Harare – The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe is expected to deliver its ruling tomorrow in a high-profile appeal by two men convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal killing of seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore from Murehwa in 2020.
The convicted individuals are the boy’s uncle, Tapiwa Makore Senior, and Tafadzwa Shamba, a cattle herder.
They were found guilty by High Court judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi after a trial that revealed disturbing details about the crime.
Young Tapiwa was killed in September 2020, and his body was gruesomely dismembered.
His torso was found the following morning being eaten by dogs, while other remains were later discovered in a pit latrine.
Although his torso was buried a year later, the boy’s head has never been recovered.
During the initial trial, both accused denied responsibility, though Shamba had previously confessed and provided chilling details about how the murder was carried out.
Despite this, the pair have appealed their conviction and sentence, claiming errors in the High Court’s judgment.
Their legal representatives, from Kadzere, Hungwe and Mandevere Legal Practitioners, argued before Supreme Court judges Nicholas Mathonsi, Antonia Guvava, and Joseph Musakwa that the High Court misapplied the law.
Makore Senior insists he was not present when the murder took place and challenges the sufficiency of the evidence linking him to the crime.
He argues that the presence of a black plastic bag at his home does not conclusively connect him to the crime, noting no DNA testing was conducted.
The defense also contends that blood found on their clothing belonged to a slaughtered chicken and not the victim.
Makore Senior further accuses Shamba of falsely implicating him and says the death penalty came as a shocking and unjust outcome.
