A soldier and his co-accused appeared before a Francistown Magistrates Court this morning accused of brutally beating man to death.
The fatal incident occurred on Saturday morning between 4am and 6am at X-Hail night club in Francistown.
The accused duo, Kebame Gobonwang, a 26-year-old soldier based at Area S Camp in Francistown, and his accomplice, 28-year-old Mogomotsi Ntshumbiwa, a salesperson at Francistown bus rank is accused of killing Kunta Vusimusi Moyengwa by assaulting him with fists and kicks.
In court the accused killers indicated they will engage their own attorneys.
After the murder charge was put to them, the Investigating Officer, Neo Edward secured their remand, arguing that police are still on the hunt for two to four additional suspects linked to Muyengwa’s death.
“Granting the accused persons bail might jeopardize the matter as they might interfere with the investigations. We are yet to locate other witnesses. We have seized the clothes the accused persons were wearing during the committal of the offence for forensic analysis,” she told court.
She further indicated that they initially received the report as an assault case and that later during the day the victim succumbed to his injuries. The postmortem is yet to be conducted.
When asked if they had anything to say, Ntshumbiwa told court the deceased started the fight by biting him first.
“He was holding a knife trying to stab me and when I grabbed him in self-defense, he stabbed me on the back. I plead that I be granted bail as I just underwent surgery and have a young child to care for,” he remorsefully pleaded.
For his part, Gobonwang begged for bail fearing that his continued remand could cost him his military job.
He assured the court that he would not interfere with investigations.
Bail ruling in the matter has been set for tomorrow, Tuesday, February 25.
