The Sunday News
Peter Matika, Senior Reporter
THE family of an eight-year-old-boy, who was killed after a commuter omnibus ran over him is seeking an appeal against a judgment that was passed by the courts, where the driver was fined $300.
The father of the deceased child, Mr Charamba Mlambo said the family had since engaged a lawyer to represent them and was also not happy with the manner in which the police had handled and presented the case in court.
Mr Mlambo accused the police of presenting lesser charges in court; making it appear as if the driver, Honest Sibanda (31) was “just negligent and not reckless”.
“We are challenging the sentence considering that there are witnesses who saw the driver talking on the phone. They said he was also speeding but surprisingly they were not called to the stand.
“We are also aggrieved that it took nearly a month for the case to come to court in addition to the fact that the accused didn’t appear in court on the day of trial, after giving some excuse of his child being ill in Esigodini,” said Mr Mlambo.
He said they would also engage the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission to look into the case.
“We suspect corruption. We will be engaging ZACC to look into this matter. How and why did the investigating officer make it appear as a lesser case of negligence when it was a clear case of reckless driving?
“The driver was seen talking on the phone, while speeding and had children aboard the vehicle.”
Sibanda ran over the boy in Pumula North suburb at the beginning of this year’s school third term.
The boy is reported to have died on the spot. He was on his way to school in the company of his friends.
Sibanda pleaded guilty to culpable homicide when he appeared at Western Commonage court.
He was fined $300 and had his drivers’ licence endorsed, as a sign that he was once involved in an accident.
@peterkmatika
