Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku,Online Reporter
Ward 26 Councillor Mpumelelo Moyo, who faced bribery charges for allegedly demanding US$20,000 from Labenmon Investments in exchange for land to construct a cement mixing plant in Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park suburb, was sentenced on Monday afternoon to 18 months’ imprisonment.
In sentencing Moyo, Bulawayo Provincial Magistrate Richard Ramaboea said six months of the sentence were suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within five years, meaning he will effectively serve 12 months in jail.
Moyo was represented by his lawyer, Prince Butshe of Butshe and Associates.
In passing the sentence, Magistrate Ramaboea said he had researched widely into cases involving public office bearers who committed bribery and found no precedent for a non-custodial sentence. He emphasised that bribery is a serious crime and that the government is committed to fighting it.
Moyo was initially charged alongside Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Councillor Edwin Ndlovu, who has since been acquitted after the State failed to provide evidence directly linking him to the offence.
According to the State, Moyo, chair of the Finance and Development Committee, solicited the bribe from Labenmon Investments in exchange for facilitating the approval of a 5.6-hectare piece of land in Cowdray Park, where the company intended to construct a cement mixing plant.
Zimbabwe anti-corruption officers arrested Moyo shortly after he received the money at Ms Tisitsi Nyathi’s house, following a trap she had set.
Nyathi lured Moyo to her house to collect the US$20,000 he had demanded to facilitate the land approval.
ENDS
