daniel chigunwe
FORMER Chitungwiza Municipality director of works, Emmanuel Mushata, was on Monday sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of criminal abuse of duty.
Mushata was convicted of a full trial last week by Harare regional magistrate Stanford Mambanje.
Of the 48 months, the magistrate suspended twelve months on the condition that Mushata doesn’t commit a similar offence in the next five years.
This means Mushata will serve 36 years behind bars.
Magistrate Mambanje indicated that while the court was aware of the need to be merciful to Mushata, it was not blinded by mercy and it should not be seen to be condoning corruption among public officials.
The State, led by District Public Prosecutor Tafara Chirambira, had called for a stiff sentence citing that the country continued to suffer due to public sector corruption and urged the courts to pass deterrent sentences.
It was proved beyond reasonable doubt that Mushata had illegally allocated a residential stand to Chengetai Nyagondo, who was an MDC-T Councillor for Zengeza back then. The State said in November 2019, Mushata identified an open space in Zengeza 4 without following the provisions of the Chitungwiza Municipality Housing Policy.
He was initially charged with Nyagondo and Alex Mukweva, a former director of housing at the local authority.
Magistrate Mambanje acquitted Mukweva saying he had done his duties under the director’s instructions.
The magistrate ruled that Nyagondo was simply a beneficiary.
The conviction and jailing of Mushata is another massive victory in the country’s battle against corruption be it in the public or private sector. It shows that the system to defeat these people is working and while the wheels of justice might grind slowly, at times, there is no question that the law finally catches up with anyone who is breaking it.
Mushata is just one of the many people who have been abusing their positions, both in the public and private sectors, to corruptly enrich themselves, in one way or another.
There are many like him throughout the country and they should also be fished out and condemned to prison because that is the only place where they belong.
The good thing about the conclusion of Mushata’s case is that it sends a very powerful signal to thousands of others that one day the law will catch up with them.
We have reported many of these cases in this newspaper but it appears there are many people in influential positions, in both the private and public sector who, driven by greed, are always ready to try and enrich themselves using unlawful means.
These people take chances, even when they are fully aware of the fact that what they are doing is wrong, and they pray that they will never be caught.
They abuse their positions and act as if they are above the law.
It’s refreshing when they are caught because that shows that the law is fully operational in this country and those who dare to flout it will pay the penalty one good day.
Online Reporter