Brenna Metendere
Kwekwe-The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has moved to finalise an unresolved politically motivated murder case involving opposition supporter Joseph Kadozo, 21, who was slain in Kwekwe in 2019, allegedly by young Zanu PF activists.
Kadozo was allegedly abducted and tortured to death by ruling Zanu PF supporters Kevin Bhebhe and Tawanda Madondo on August 29, 2019.
The matter was reported at Garandichauya Police Station and investigated under CR number Mbizo 148/8/19.
Bhebhe and Madondo were initially arrested and taken to the Kwekwe Magistrates’ Court under CRB KK1254/19, after which they were referred to the High Court in Bulawayo, where they were granted bail.
Since then, the matter appeared to have fizzled out, as the accused continued to live in the community for more than five years, leading to a public outcry.
NewsHub earlier this year published an article in which former Mbizo MP Settlement Chikwinya expressed concern over the unresolved matter.
However, in the latest development, this publication has established that the suspects, Bhebhe and Madondo, have now been indicted and placed at Kwekwe Remand Prison awaiting trial.
A notice in terms of subsection (3) of section 229 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Chapter 9:07], as read with sub rule 12 of Rule 87 of the High Court Rules, has also been given to the father of the deceased, Antony Kadozo, who has been invited to testify at Gokwe High Court on 12 May, when the trial begins.
Part of the notice to Kadozo, signed by the clerk to the Prosecutor General Kuda Marahwa and dated 2 April 2025, seen by News Hub, reads:
“You are hereby commanded that you be and appear personally before the judge at the session of the High Court of Zimbabwe to be held at Gokwe and commencing on the 12th day of May 2025 at ten o’clock in the morning to testify all those things which you know concerning an indictment then and there to be preferred against:
“1. Tawanda Madondo 2. Kelvin Bhebhe charged with the crime of murder, and this you shall by no means fail to do, upon failing you shall be liable to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one month.”
Chikwinya welcomed the indictment of the murder suspects.
“The arrest and indictment of the suspects in the murder case of the deceased Joseph Kadozo is a welcome development for both the community and, most importantly, the Kadozo family. We all expect justice to be delivered at last, and the family to be consoled by a fair and befitting judgment,” he said.
H bemoaned the time it has taken for the accused to be indicted.
“The time taken to bring the suspects to trial was beginning to erode the community’s and family’s trust in Zimbabwe’s legal systems,” he said.
While Kadozo’s case has been set down for trial, the February 27, 2022, murder of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist Mboneni Ncube at an opposition rally remains unresolved.
Five suspects — Edmore Shoshera, Albert Maketo, Talent Imbayago, Panashe Mukavaza, and Percy Mukwaturi — are still awaiting trial after being granted bail in April 2022.
Initially, 16 suspects were arrested for Ncube’s murder.
Ncube was fatally stabbed with a spear by Zanu PF supporters at an ill-fated CCC rally addressed by then party leader, Nelson Chamisa, in Kwekwe.
Two years after the brutal attack, the activist’s sister, Judith Ncube, lamented the perceived reluctance by Zimbabwean authorities to bring the culprits to justice, alleging that her family had endured torment from her brother’s suspected killers.
Gweru Chief Law Officer, Samuel Pedzisayi, in February told this publication that matters which take long to be indicted were commonly due to lack of sufficient evidence and botched investigations.