The Sunday Mail
“I keep different weapons here and I use them whenever an enemy attacks me. They are for my own defence, as life has taught me to be always alert to protecting oneself,” he says while pointing a sharp object at this writer. Violent, oafish and boastful, his relatives say he can throw a gaze that chills the blood. They say he is prone to violent outbursts and at such times no one dares cross his path.
Meet Fredrick Jefres Befa (68), who last month allegedly murdered his younger brother Kizito Befa (59) by stabbing him in the abdomen with a spear.
The murder occurred during a dispute over family matters at their homestead in Rusape.
The dispute was triggered after Kizito and his other brother, Charles Munyanyi Befa (56), visited Fredrick to confront him following rumours that Kizito was the hand behind the misfortunes befalling Fredrick.
After reportedly confessing to the murder, Fredrick was thrown in remand prison for two weeks before being released on free bail by a High Court judge, pending his trial.
Fredrick is actually seeing himself as the victim of the tragedy, adding that he deserves his freedom because his two younger brothers came to attack him at his home.
“Although I regret what I did, I am also bitter because I was forced into this situation. While I was being bitten by lice in jail, my brothers who triggered this tragedy were enjoying the warmth of their homes and comfortable freedom as I languished in prison,” says Fredrick.
He says his brothers came to his house very late and threatened to kill him.
“It was around 11:15pm when I was in my bedroom and about to sleep when I heard noise and footsteps outside my house. A few moments later, I heard a knock on the door and remained silent while carefully listening to my younger brother’s shouting, threatening to kill me following allegations that I was speaking ill about his family.
“I remained inside, but they started banging on the door, demanding that I come out. They continued to shout, accusing me of taking away some family cattle and also made several other petty allegations.
“I finally came out armed with a spear and a knife, but it was too dark that I couldn’t see anything. I then told my brothers that we should discuss the matter amicably at my courtyard where a fire was burning.
“When we got there, one of them hit me with a log in the head and I fell down. I then tried to defend myself with the spear, but Charles got hold of it and broke it into two pieces,” he narrates.
“The now deceased (Kizito) then held me tightly from behind, while Charles tried to strike me with an axe.”
Fredrick says he got hold of his broken spear and stabbed his brother in the stomach.
“After I stabbed him, he let go of me and disappeared into the darkness. Charles went after Kizito, while I remained seated in my courtyard. I don’t quite remember what transpired after that, but all I remember is police coming to arrest me the following morning.”
Fredrick goes on: “I was taken to Dewedzo Police Station, then later to Rusape, where I appeared in court and was advised by the magistrate to apply for bail in Mutare, which I did and was granted on June 30 before being set free.
“At first they asked me how much I could pay and I told them that I didn’t have money and that the little I had was secured where my wife could not get it.”
Fredrick’s surviving brother, Charles, gives a different account of what transpired.
“He lies that we attacked him first because he knew that when we arrived at his home we were not there to fight but to discuss. He has always been a violent person and he attacks everyone who questions his conduct, be it relatives or neighbours.
“We arrived at his place from the beerhall at around 7pm, and not 11pm as he is putting it now. We found him in his courtyard and told him that we wanted to discuss issues that were affecting us as a family.
“He ordered us to wait for him outside while he went into his house. It was only when he returned that we realised he was now armed,” Charles says.
“He tried to stab me with a spear, but I took it away from him and broke it. Kizito then held him from behind, trying to restrain him.
“However, a few seconds later, Kizito made a loud scream and fell down instantly. When I got to him, his belly was slit open, with the intestines protruding outside and blood was gushing out.”
Charles says he got a car to take Kizito to Dewedzo Clinic, from where he was referred to Rusape General Hospital. Kizito died while being taken to Parirenyatwa in Harare.
“This man is very violent, it is in his nature. He once attempted to strike our late mother with an axe,” Charles says.
“He shouted vulgar words at her and even told her she could go back to her parents’ home.
“He does whatever he wants, he kills our livestock at will. He also once stabbed my son with a spear, who survived the attack. I am surprised that the courts have given free bail to such a person; they have not done their job well.”
The deceased’s wife, Catherine, left the farm to live with her daughters in Mutare after Fredrick was released.
She says she will find it hard to forgive her husband’s self-confessed killer.
“I have been deeply hurt by my husband’s death. Watching him cry in pain with his intestines out was too much for me,” she cries.
“Since we buried him, I haven’t been able to sleep at night. What pains me most is the fact that the man who killed my husband is walking free today. The courts should have at least made him pay a huge bail or put him somewhere else.”
Headman Ozias Muchira is also in a state of shock.
“What happened in my area shocked me. The release of the suspect shocked me even more because he was released back into the homestead and community whose people are still mourning and could plot revenge,” he says.
Headman Muchira is calling for calm, urging the Befa family and Dowa to avoid provoking Fredrick.
Kizito’s son, Thomas (27), says although he is living in fear of his uncle, revenge is not on his mind.
“What happened shocked me. I had come to know him as a violent person, but did not expect him to go that far,” he says.
“And since the day he came back, we are living in fear because he is a wild man; he can do anything. I don’t know why they had to release him from jail, worse off on free bail.”
Kizito left behind six children, three of whom are still in school.
