20-Year Sentence for Friend's Sadza Murder: Court Ruling

THE High Court has sentenced a Harare tout to 20 years’ imprisonment for stoning his friend to death in a fit of rage during a dispute over sadza. Byson Mwachande (31), a tout from Mufakose, Harare, was slapped with the lengthy jail terms following his conviction for killing his friend, Michael Salimon. The prosecutor told the court that on February 13, 2025, at the Lyton flyover, tensions flared when the offender found the now deceased sharing a plate of sadza with another colleague. Mwachande demanded “repayment” for the sadza Salimon had eaten at his home earlier that morning. Court further heard that the scuffle escalated when the offender insisted on taking the now deceased’s US$20 share of the day’s earnings as compensation. It was submitted that when the now deceased’s colleague refused to surrender the money, Mwachande become violent, forcing the two to flee towards the Workington industrial area. The offender pursued the two while in a pick-up truck and caught up with them. He jumped from the moving vehicle and struck Salimon once on the forehead with a 470 gramme stone. Salimon collapsed onto the tarmac and died instantly. Realising the gravity of his actions, Mwachande fled the scene but later surrendered himself to the police two days later, on February 15. A postmortem confirmed that death was caused by a severe head injury, including a skull fracture and subdural haemorrhage. In a statement following sentencing, the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) warned members of the public against using violence to solve disputes. “Violence is never an acceptable resolution to a dispute. This tragic loss of life over a minor disagreement highlights the dangerous consequences of acting in anger,” said NPAZ.