Two men jailed for 20 years each for murder of Harare cellphone dealer in 2020

Two men convicted of murdering Harare cellphone dealer Sipho Million Ncube in March 2020 have each been jailed for 20 years, more than six years after the killing that attracted widespread attention.

Elvin Saungweme Dongo and Dellon David Balani were sentenced on Friday by High Court judge Justice Malin Tommasi, a day after she convicted them of the murder.

The case drew considerable public interest in its early stages after it emerged that a third accused, Munyaradzi Mawadze, is the son of then High Court judge Garainesu Mawadze, who is now a Supreme Court judge. His trial was separated from that of Dongo and Balani.

Prosecutors alleged that the three men acted together in a plot to rob and kill Ncube, whose disappearance prompted searches by relatives and business associates before his body was recovered.

The court heard that Ncube was lured from his trading spot near Chicken Slice along Angwa Street, popularly known as Ximex Mall, on 12 March 2020. The trio pretended they wanted to buy mobile phones and persuaded him to accompany them in a car, saying they would pay for the phones in Waterfalls.

Instead, they diverted from the agreed route, driving along Chiremba Road past Epworth towards Ruwa, and took him to a secluded spot. There, they robbed him of three iPhone 11 Pro Max handsets and an undisclosed amount of cash before stabbing him several times and slitting his throat.

His body was dumped at a farm in Ruwa. A post-mortem examination found he died from acute anaemia caused by severe neck trauma from an incised wound.

After the killing, Mawadze allegedly used Ncube’s phone to send a message claiming the dealer had been kidnapped, in an apparent attempt to mislead relatives into believing he was still alive.

Police told the court that Dongo pointed out where the body was found, while Balani led investigators to a blood-stained knife hidden in a bushy area in Waterfalls. Blood-stained clothing was also recovered from Dongo’s residence.

The prosecution’s case relied in part on forensic evidence. DNA tests linked blood found on both the clothing and the knife to Ncube.

In an earlier ruling dismissing their applications for discharge at the close of the State case, Justice Tommasi said there was objective forensic evidence linking the two accused to the killing.

“There is objective forensic evidence linking the blood found on the clothing recovered from the 1st accused’s residence, as well as that found on the knife pointed out by accused 2 and recovered in Waterfalls, to the deceased,” she said.

The judge also considered statements the accused made in their bail applications, which placed them in the company of Mawadze at or near the scene around the time of the killing.

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