Nkomo aide recovering: Lawyer

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LATE Vice-President John Nkomo’s aide, Eddie Sigoge, is steadily recovering, although he was still in pain and walking with the aid of clutches.

LATE Vice-President John Nkomo’s aide, Eddie Sigoge, is steadily recovering, although he was still in pain and walking with the aid of clutches.

Richard Muponde Senior Court Reporter

Sigoge is presently a free man pending appeal against both conviction and sentence in an attempted murder case, but his health was not complementing his freedom.

His lawyer, Tanaka Muganyi, yesterday confirmed that his client was recovering, but was still in pain.

“He is recovering although he is in a lot of pain,” he said.

“He’s walking with the aid of crutches and the recovery has been steady.”

Sigoge was in September last year condemned to prison for four years after being convicted of attempting to kill a Gwayi man and seven colleagues in a farm dispute six years ago.

However, he breathed a sigh of relief after he was released from prison on bail by the Bulawayo High Court, pending appeal against conviction and sentence.

Sigoge was behind bars for almost two weeks after being sentenced to four years for attempted murder by Hwange regional magistrate for the Western Division, Dambudzo Malunga, before High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese upheld his appeal.

He was given $100 bail and ordered to stay at his Lobengula West house until the finalisation of the case.

In his successful bail application, Sigoge cited chronic illnesses that he said would certainly make prison life a death sentence for him.

He submitted that he suffers from hypertension and congestive cardiac arrest failure.

He has had a surgical operation twice to totally replace the right hip and requires physiotherapy three times a week.

Sigoge requires attention from specialist doctors at monthly intervals.

He needs assistance when waking up or relieving himself.

Sigoge underwent a major surgical operation in 2007, where he was opened from the diaphragm to the bladder and part of his bowel was removed.

He has a poor digestive system that cannot tolerate certain foods and requires a special diet that he can only get from home-based care.