A 72-year-old man was allegedly beaten at his Gokwe North home after armed men surrounded the homestead and ordered his family to lie on the ground. Chief Chireya, two police officers and four other men have been charged with murder over the attack, which prosecutors say grew out of a dispute over the chief’s position.
The deceased, Tapson Jichidza, was attacked at his home in Taka village at about 8.30pm on 13 October, according to the State’s account presented in court. The group allegedly arrived in an Isuzu double-cab driven by Chief Chireya, whose birth name is Henry Chidzivo. One of the men carried a police service rifle loaded with eight rounds.
The State alleges that the group’s arrival was organised. A man who has not been arrested is said to have switched off the vehicle’s lights before the group approached the homestead. The men then surrounded the property. Police officer Agent Chitsinde allegedly ordered the household to lie down as the others moved in.
The attack left Jichidza unconscious. Prosecutors say he was then carried away from the yard and left in a separate, roofless hut or unfinished building, out of sight of his relatives. His son Shelton later found him there and made a police report. The body was taken to Gokwe North District Hospital.
The sequence is set out in the account of the court proceedings and in the later report on the remand hearing. The alleged involvement of serving officers and the presence of a loaded service rifle form a central part of the case brought against the seven men.
The alleged attack
According to the State, those who arrived at the homestead were carrying knobkerries, axes, iron bars and wooden sticks. Chitsinde, a police officer based at Nembudziya, was allegedly armed with an official FN rifle containing eight live rounds. The court account says the occupants were told to lie down before Jichidza was assaulted.
Jethro Dumbura is accused of striking Jichidza on the head with a knobkerrie. Chenjerayi Chidzivo allegedly lifted the elderly man and threw him to the ground. Chitsinde is accused of striking him with the butt of the rifle. Prosecutors say Chief Chireya accused Jichidza of having stripped him of his chieftainship and ordered the group to kill him.
The court account says Jichidza lost consciousness during the assault. Kelvin Panashe Musariri and Kasiyani Mudyachawaona are alleged to have carried him from the yard and taken him to a roofless hut. The group then left the homestead. The reported account does not say that Jichidza was treated or taken to hospital before his son found him.
Two other members of the family, Brighton and Shelton Jichidza, were also reportedly assaulted. Shelton’s discovery of his father’s body and his report to police brought officers to the scene. The investigation that followed led to arrests, with one alleged participant still described as being at large in the court account.
A separate account of the early investigation said the six other accused were arrested on 16 October. Chief Chireya appeared in court on 20 October, a day after the other six had appeared. The proceedings took place at the Nembudziya Magistrates Court, with the chief’s appearance also reported as being before magistrate Ranganai Matan’ani.
The details of the alleged assault were presented as the prosecution’s case. They describe a group arriving together after dark, a family ordered to lie down, a beating involving several weapons, and the victim being removed from his homestead while unconscious. The State’s account also places two members of the victim’s family at the scene as people who were themselves attacked.
Seven accused in custody
Chief Chireya was remanded in custody on 20 October. The six other accused—police officers Moses Sibanda and Agent Chitsinde, and four civilian co-accused—had been remanded the previous day. Their next listed appearance was 4 November. A report published on 11 November said the seven had been remanded in custody, while describing the earlier October appearances and the listed November return date. No later court outcome is included in the available accounts.
The two officers named in the case are both based at Nembudziya, according to the reports. Chitsinde is specifically accused of ordering the family to lie down and using his rifle butt to strike Jichidza. The reports name Sibanda as a co-accused but do not describe a specific act attributed to him during the assault. The other four men are identified in the court accounts as Jethro or Jetro Dumbura, Chenjerayi Chidzivo, Kelvin Panashe Musariri and Kasiyani Mudyachawaona; spellings vary between accounts.
The State has charged the seven with murder under section 47(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23, as set out in the published case report. The alleged motive described in court is a bitter disagreement over chieftainship. Prosecutors say that during the attack, Chief Chireya accused Jichidza of removing him from the position.
The court reports identify Jichidza as a 72-year-old relative of the chief. They place his home in Taka village, within the area under Chief Chireya’s authority. They do not provide a detailed account of how the chieftainship dispute began, when the position was contested, or what formal decisions had been made about it. The dispute is therefore described here only in the terms presented by the prosecution.
The case also centres on the reported use of police equipment. The rifle was said to be an official weapon with eight live rounds, and one of the officers allegedly used its butt during the assault. The charges name two police officers among those remanded. The available accounts do not state whether either officer had been suspended, reassigned or subject to separate disciplinary proceedings.
A separate government warning on conduct
On the same date prosecutors say the attack took place, the Government publicly discussed standards for traditional leaders at a meeting in Harare. Local Government and Public Works Permanent Secretary Tafadzwa Muguti said the Government intended to issue a circular reminding chiefs of expected ethical conduct. “The ministry will issue a circular to conscientise our revered traditional leaders on good and ethical conduct.”
Muguti said leaders who breached the Constitution or the Traditional Leaders Act could face disciplinary action. He also spoke about chiefs’ roles in land allocation, environmental protection, dispute resolution and local development structures. The government announcement was presented as a national policy matter and was not identified as a response to the Gokwe case.
The timing places the two developments on 13 October, but the announcement and the criminal case were reported as separate matters. The case concerns the alleged killing of Jichidza and the seven people now facing a murder charge. The Government’s statement concerned standards for traditional leaders generally. There is no reported indication that the meeting addressed the events at Taka village or named Chief Chireya.
For Jichidza’s family, the account before the court describes an attack unfolding at their home, with relatives forced to the ground as the assault took place. Two sons were reportedly injured. Shelton later found his father’s body away from the homestead and alerted police. Investigators then traced the alleged participants, including a traditional leader and two serving officers.
The court proceedings have so far set out the prosecution’s version of how the group arrived, how the assault was carried out and why it is alleged to have happened. They also identify the point where the attackers left the family home and the hut where Jichidza was found. The seven accused were remanded in custody, with 4 November given as the next listed date after their October appearances.