onlinemedia
The Herald, 21 August 1998
A Mufakose man this week surprised everyone when he chose to serve a custodial sentence even though he had been given an option to do community service.
George Pfumbwa (22) who had been convicted of trying to bribe a police officer on his own plea of guilt, was on Tuesday sent to an officer in the Community Service Office at the Harare Magistrates’ courts for an interview.
Although it had been explained to him what was meant by the term “community service”, Pfumbwa in an unprecedented move, told the officer that he preferred to be incarcerated.
Community service was introduced in 1992 and is a non-custodial sentence whereby the probationer performs work for a given period in a public institution such as clinic or a Government school under the supervision of the head of that institution.
It is usually performed during normal working hours from 8am to 4pm with the probationer taking a lunch break from 1pm to 2pm. The service is not done on public holidays.
The Government adopted the non-custodial form of imprisonment for non-violent criminals since it was felt they would be more likely rehabilitated. Other benefits were that it would reduce the country’s prison population and save money which would have been used for the upkeep of inmates.
Harare magistrate Miss Sarah Makupi was forced to sentence Pfumbwa to four months although he is a first offender. Courts have of late taken the view that imprisoning people, even for a short period, was likely to expose an otherwise law-abiding person to criminal activities through mixing with hardened convicts during their short stay in prison.
Pfumbwa, who had been arrested for theft by false pretences, tried to secure his release by corruptly offering a police officer $80 bribe while he was being taken to Harare Central Police Station on August 5 this year.
Lessons for today:
Despite being a first-time offender and eligible for community service, Pfumbwa chose imprisonment over the non-custodial sentence. His choice raises questions about perceptions of punishment, personal circumstances, or misunderstanding of community service.
The magistrate, Miss Sarah Makupi, had to sentence Pfumbwa to four months in prison due to his refusal. This decision was unusual and surprising, especially since community service is generally preferred for non-violent offenders.
Courts typically avoid imprisoning first offenders to prevent them from being influenced by hardened criminals.
Online Reporter