A 46-year-old man from Lusulu, Binga District, Nguquko Moyo, has been sentenced to an effective 10 years in prison by the Hwange Regional Court following a terrifying arson attack on his family and the discovery of a substantial stash of illicit drugs.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), on the night of 12 June 2026, at approximately 11:50 PM, Moyo arrived at his mother’s homestead in Kayongolo Village, under Chief Pashu, and confronted family members over an alleged extra-marital affair.
In a fit of rage, Moyo set fire to a bedroom hut where five relatives, his 66-year-old mother, a 44-year-old man, and three children aged 3, 10, and 12, were sleeping.
When a sixth relative rushed into the burning structure to rescue the occupants, Moyo locked the door from the outside, trapping all six people inside.
The victims narrowly escaped death when one of them managed to break through the hut’s rear mud wall, allowing everyone to flee to safety before alerting the police.
Investigating officers arrived at the scene at around 5 AM the following morning.
During the police enquiries, Moyo asked his wife for a cigarette, prompting her to retrieve a sachet of cannabis from nearby bushes.
This suspicious movement led officers to search the surrounding area, resulting in the recovery of four buckets of cannabis weighing a total of 12.5 kilograms.
Moyo was subsequently convicted on six counts of attempted murder and one count of unlawful dealing in dangerous drugs.
The court handed down a seven-year sentence for the attempted murder charges, with one year suspended, alongside a five-year term for the drug offence, also with one year suspended, to leave an effective 10-year prison sentence.
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