The High Court has overturned a controversial ruling that spared musician Kudakwashe Hombarume, popularly known as Chillmaster, from jail after he caused a fatal road accident earlier this year.
Hombarume, 24, who was driving without a licence, admitted to speeding at 100 km/h in a 60 km/h zone when he crashed his Honda Shuttle into 46-year-old Custon Charumbira in April, killing him on the spot.
Initially, Mbare magistrate Tatenda Mukurunge sentenced the artist to community service after he compensated the victim’s family and paid for funeral expenses. But the High Court condemned the ruling, describing it as “outrageous” and inconsistent with the severity of the offence.
“The facts of this case reveal a serious breach of road safety regulations. Contrary to a finding of ordinary negligence, the facts disclose gross negligence,” Justice Mary Zimba Dube ruled.
She stressed that compensation alone cannot replace justice. “A victim impact statement cannot trump the interests of justice. Courts should not allow offenders to buy themselves out of a custodial sentence simply because they can pay compensation,” she added.
Justice Dube further noted that with Zimbabwe recording a rise in road traffic deaths, the judiciary has a duty to send “a strong warning to offenders who drive without licences resulting in fatalities.”
Following the High Court’s ruling, the matter was sent back to Magistrate Mukurunge, who revised the sentence and handed Hombarume a nine-month driving ban — the minimum penalty prescribed by the court.
“The aggravating features of this case do not justify community service,” Justice Dube said. “Community service imposed in such circumstances trivialises the offence of culpable homicide arising from road traffic accidents.”
