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Midlands Provincial Magistrate Mrs Phathekile Msipa and Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Tabeth Mtabeni welcome Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Nicholas Mathonsi, at the official opening of the Gweru High Court circuit yesterday

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
BULAWAYO High Court Judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi has bemoaned the rise in violent killings and said a programme must be put in place to find reasons behind the trend to find a lasting solution.

Justice Mathonsi said it was sad that society appears to be accepting and getting used to the culture of killing.

Officially opening the legal year for the Gweru High Court Circuit yesterday, Justice Mathonsi said there was a need for concerted efforts to end unwarranted killings especially by youths.

“Apparently we’ve become a nation of very violent people which is of major concern to the judiciary. In fact violent death at the hands of other human beings is one of the major challenges we as a people now have to confront almost on a daily basis. We appear to have accepted and become used to the culture of killing,” he said.

“At times it springs from acts of disconsolation committed against oneself like in the case of suicide, or from fits of rage as in the case of the majority of cases on the court roll this time around.”

Justice Mathonsi said the problem confronting communities in Zimbabwe at the moment was the culture of using violence to resolve problems as people are no longer afraid of ending life.

“We therefore now need a deliberate programme to research on the scourge of violent conduct now defining our society and come up with lasting solutions to the problem. But first as a nation we must condemn violence and plead for its end. We must valiantly and persistently condemn it. It just has to stop somewhere as it’s not good for the image of our nation and for development,” he said.

Justice Mathonsi said young people roam around communities, business centres and growth points consuming copious amounts of alcohol, taking drugs and generally becoming a nuisance to those that they come across.

“In their inebriation they become dangerous indeed as they use all kinds of weapons to attack others at the stroke of a finger.

“I’m not being evangelical when I say that allied to that is the fact that we have so many among us who have taken to worshipping alcohol and not the Almighty God,” he said.

“Invariably these bouts of drunken violent behaviour results in loss of limbs and at times loss of life. Gangs of these violent people of varying types strut among communities ready to perpetrate violence”.

Justice Mathonsi said to illustrate his point, the Gweru High Court circuit was going to deal with 17 cases in the next two weeks, all involving violent killings.

“Of the 17 cases of unnecessary loss of human life, 11 of the victims died as a result of  violent blows directed to the head inflicting injuries, mainly skull fractures which caused death.

“It would appear that the head is one part of the human body that those that make it their business to assault others never hesitate to target,” he said.

Turning to the scourge of corruption, Justice Mathonsi said it was presenting a huge challenge to the nation and had become a way of life in Zimbabwe.

“The major impact of rampant corruption also takes the form of a steady outflow of resources from the country which devastates economic development. The corrosive damage by corruption ultimately holds back development,” he said.

@pchitumba1