The names of a further four people sentenced to death by special courts martial have been received by IDAF, bringing the total number of political prisoners known to have received the death penalty under the internal settlement to at least 30. 16 of these have been sentenced to death under martial law.
BENCHARD KATUMBA (19), and his brother LEAVIT KATUMBA (16), were arrested at their home in Bosha Kraal, under Chief Bepura, on the very day that the new constitution of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia came into force and Bishop Muzorewa assumed the office of Prime Minister – 1 June 1979. They were captured by a group of about 12 white members of the security forces, who returned the next day and burnt down the youths' home, destroying a considerable amount of property. The boys' father is dead. On 30 June 1979 both of them were sentenced to death at Sipolilo on conviction of possessing arms of war, a charge which both denied. It is highly probable that the court responsible was a special court martial although this cannot be conclusively confirmed.
SIMON NCUBE and NGWIZI HONATHAN LUBAMBO were sentenced to death by a special court martial at Silobela on 17 November 1978 on conviction of assisting guerillas to murder a 'sell-out'. They were alleged to have been members of a group of 15 'mujibas' (guerilla collaborators) who had carried out other such disciplinary killings. In the case of Simon Ncube, both conviction and sentence were subsequently quashed by the special court martial Review Authority, which then directed that the accused be reindicted for trial in the High Court. He was duly sentenced to 2½ years imprisonment by the Bulawayo High Court, on 22 June. No further information is available on Ngwizi Lubambo.
