Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) security officer, Kennedy Percy Gumbo allegedly killed himself after misappropriating his employer’s $1 175 in a botched platinum deal.
The inquest into Gumbo’s death opened at Chitungwiza magistrate court on Wednesday this week before Chitungwiza magistrate Lazini Ncube.
Gumbo’s wife Constance Karengwa gave a detailed account to the court of what she said transpired on the fateful day on May 24 this year.
She said on the day in question, before Gumbo allegedly shot himself in the neck, he had told her he had been conned of his employer’s money by people who had sold him fake platinum.
As a result, he feared his bosses would cause his arrest if he reported for duty.
“He said the ‘platinum’ was in the wardrobe and he then said he would not go to work because the money he had spent was meant for the salaries of guards. He said his boss was supposed to take it to them,” Karengwa told the hearing.
The court heard that after Gumbo had confided to his wife about the botched deal, he asked her to call his four-year-old son whom he said he wanted to play with.
The son came and Karengwa briefly left the two as she proceeded to the toilet.
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Karengwa said as she was about to open the toilet’s door, she heard a gunshot and her son cried out for her to come.
Neighbours also reportedly came after hearing the gunshot.
“I rushed back and found my husband lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound in his neck. I then took the firearm and tried to commit suicide, but the gun was seized from me by our neighbours who had heard the commotion,” Karengwa said.
She further told the court that police recovered the fake platinum in the envelope from the wardrobe. The hearing continues on Monday next week and prosecutor, Caroline Kugarakuripi, is leading the witnesses.
