HARARE – A man who shot dead a rank marshal in Harare on Wednesday appeared in court charged with murder on Friday – but police appeared ready to accept his expected self-defence plea.
Lloyd Boniface Kobekile, 24, was remanded in custody by Harare magistrate Victoria Mashamba.
The case as presented by prosecutors had stripped the crime of all the political connotations which emerged in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Kobekile, said to be self employed in court, allegedly had Zanu PF regalia when he parked his vehicle, a Subaru, close to the MDC headquarters.
The confrontation that followed, witness accounts said, started after he refused to pay for the parking, saying the rank marshals had no authority from the Harare City Council, and this had quickly turned into a row over the political gear.
The victim was not named in court, but his family has identified him as Gresham Mwakapira, 40.
Prosecutors say Kobekile parked his vehicle at the corner of Angwa and Nkwame Nkurumah Avenue before he proceeded to the Deeds Office nearby.
He left his two sisters, Takudzwa Mugabe and Lorraine Kobekile, in the vehicle.
Mwakapira, who was a rank marshal, then arrived and challenged Kobekile’s sisters, telling them they had parked in parking bays he controlled.
When Kobekile returned, a row ensued and he was attacked by Mwakapira and his colleagues, say prosecutors.
Mwakapira and his crew allegedly broke the window of the Kobekile’s vehicle, stuffed some cardboard boxes inside and set it on fire.
“The accused tried to escape but the deceased and his friends continued to attack him with stones and iron bars,” said Sebastin Mutizirwa for the prosecution.
Funeral service proceedings at Fidelity Funeral Palour in the capital-Harare, #Wednesday shooting victim Gresham Mwakapira, @PoliceZimbabwe @CountEvans @BitiTendai @nelsonchamisa @zvobgoluckson1 @Wamagaisa burial is set for tomorrow in Hurungwe. pic.twitter.com/OhiMuWj2sF
— Costa Nkomo (@costahcostah) October 12, 2018
It is alleged that Kobekile ran away along Kwame Nkrumah Avenue towards First Street with a mob giving chase. According to the state, he fired three warning shots from his AG Brevet pistol before shooting Mwakapira in the head. The victim died on the spot.
Kobekile’s lawyer, Oliver Marwa, told court that the state made an error by writing down his charge as murder.
Marwa complained that his client was facing a lesser charge of culpable homicide because he had acted in self defence. He gave notice to take the issue up at the High Court where he will apply for bail.
Mwakapira’s burial is set for Hurungwe on Saturday.
