HARARE – Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda was “almost killed” after a reckless motorist crashed into his Mercedes in Harare, a court heard on Wednesday.
Sinoia Desmond, 51, pleaded guilty to negligent driving before magistrate Barbara Mateko.
He will be sentenced on Thursday.
The Harare Magistrates Court heard that on August 23, just before 5PM, Desmond was driving on a side road parallel to Samora Machel Avenue going towards Msasa with one passenger.
Desmond failed to give way at the intersection of Samora Machel and Glenara Avenue and ploughed into the side of Sibanda’s Mercedes Benz driven by Mandlenkosi Mpofu.
General Sibanda was sitting at the back and on the left side which was impacted by Desmond’s vehicle. Sibanda’s aide, Squadron leader Mark Pride Mangwende, was the other passenger in the Mercedes.
No-one was injured in the crash but prosecutor Caroline Mutimusakwa – who argued for a custodial sentence – said General Sibanda was “almost killed”, adding: “Desmond wanted to plunge the nation into mourning by killing the commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
“He was negligent for failing to observe a regulatory provision, failing to give way at a Give Way sign, travelling at a speed which was excessive under the circumstances and failing to stop or act reasonably when accident or collision seemed imminent.”
