Republic v Nambazo & Ors.

The murder in this case stemmed from the defendants’ claim that one of them was the rightful heir to the Thombozi chieftaincy rather than the murder victim and her successors. The four men were charged with murder for cutting and striking the woman’s head with panga knives (machete) and a hoe repeatedly until she died. The victim was seated amongst her colleagues in front of the village court, as was customary for the group of women, when the defendants, from a nearby village, approached the group and asserted that they owned the court. The defendants demanded that the women clear from the area for a new chief to enter, but upon the women’s’ refusal to comply, the defendants attacked the women with their weapons and killed the victim. Two of the defendants raised the defense of provocation claiming that the group of women assaulted the defendants first. In rejecting the defendant’s argument, the court highlighted that the victim and her colleagues were unarmed and emphasized that “provocation must bear a reasonable relationship to the accused person's act.” The court held that the victim and her colleagues did not provoke the defendant's and found all four men guilty of murder.