daniel chigunwe
Chief Court Reporter
FORMER ZBC news anchor Oscar Pambuka has petitioned the High Court for his conviction and sentence to be overturned, arguing that the trial court misdirected itself in sending him to jail for fraud.
His appeal, which was supposed to be held virtually yesterday, failed to commence and Justice Pisirayi Kwenda rescheduled it to a later date.
Pambuka is asking the High Court to quash his December 2018 conviction.
He is presently serving an effective 30 months for swindling the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) of more than US$12 000, in a public relations deal.
Pambuka and former Highfield Constituency legislator, Psychology Maziwisa, were roaming wide and free, instead of submitting to jail, after their appeal against conviction and sentence was struck off the roll in September last year.
After the High Court struck their appeal off the roll, the two were supposed to go to jail for 30 months each, but they disappeared.
Pambuka’s luck ran out when he was convicted in January in another case of fraud and remanded in custody for sentencing.
After news filtered through that Pambuka had been convicted at the Mbare Magistrates Court, the courts activated his warrant of arrest and he was brought before Justice Kwenda for a default inquiry. He was subsequently committed to prison.
Pambuka and Maziwisa were convicted originally of two counts of fraud and each sentenced to six years and five months in prison.
However, they will only serve two years and six months each, after the rest of the term was conditionally suspended.
The duo duped ZPC of over US$12 000 in a public relations deal.
They were fraudulently awarded a tender to do public relations work for Zesa Holdings by former Energy Minister Dr Samuel Undenge at a time the power utility had its own functional public relations department.
Dissatisfied with the decision of the trial court, the two appealed to the High Court against both conviction and sentence.
But the higher court struck the appeal off the roll on the basis that it was fatally defective and incurable at law.
Early this year, Pambuka was convicted at the Mbare Magistrates Court on charges of attempting to defraud a Harare-based transporter of R36 000 after misrepresenting to him that he was Croco Motors director Mr Moses Chingwena and wanted advance money to pay for the shipment of his motor spare parts in South Africa.
Pambuka attempted to dupe Gibson Mazhangara, who runs Gimatar Logistics.
Ngonidzashe Mbauya and Elmore Mwenye, who were implicated in the matter, were cleared and acquitted of the charges.
Online Reporter