Neighbour in court over High Court judge shooting 

Nyore Madzianike
Senior Court Reporter
A 34-YEAR-OLD man who fired a shot while parked at the gate of High Court judge Justice Emiliah Muchawa’s house in Westgate, Harare, is a close neighbour of the judge, it emerged in court yesterday.

Nation Musekiwa, who stays a few houses from the judge’s home in the same street, appeared at the Harare Magistrates court charged with criminal nuisance and alternatively assault.

Musekiwa denied the charges when he appeared before magistrate Mrs Evelyn Mashavirakure, who remanded him to March 8 for trial.

Mr Anesu Chirenje, prosecuting, alleged that on January 31 at around 7.15pm, Justice Muchawa and her husband, Mr Pascal Ngwarai Muchawa, were driving home along Old Mazowe Road.

When they reached Tom Farm along Old Mazowe Road, they saw Musekiwa driving his Honda Civic in front of them and they followed him until turning into Good Hope Road.

It is alleged that Musekiwa stopped his car in front of Justice Muchawa’s main gate, prompting the couple to stop their vehicle.

Musekiwa is alleged to have fired a shot into the air causing Justice Muchawa and her husband to drive to the nearby home of Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, where there were security officers on duty.

Constables Kambamura and Chidaushe, who were on duty, opened the gate for them.

The couple told the police officers what had happened and they went to the scene where they recovered a 9mm blank cartridge.

On the following day, Musekiwa went to Harare Central Police Station where he told the police that he was the one who had fired the shot on the previous night. Investigations led to the recovery of a pellet gun that was taken to CID Ballistics for forensic examination.