Pastor dragged to court for unlawful entry

Tinashe Hazvide
A DANGAMVURA high-density suburb pastor was last week dragged to court by one of her congregants facing charges of unlawful entry and theft.

Dorothy Mushamba of House Number 630, Area 14, Dangamvura, appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mrs Annie Ndiraya, pleading guilty to unlawful entry as defined in Section 131 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act, Chapter 9:23 (unlawful entry into premises). The Manica Post could not establish her church by the time of going to print.

It was the State’s case led by Mr Brian Goto that Mushamba was not facing theft charges, but unlawful entry.

“She is just facing unlawful entry charges, but I would like to highlight to the court that she is always at loggerheads with the complainant and thus it should be taken into consideration when dealing with this matter, Your Worship,” said Mr Goto.

The court heard that on December 2 at around 9am, Mushamba broke into Portia Ngirishi’s room in her absence and allegedly stole US$70 and some church papers. The latter is Mushamba’s tenant. “Mushamba ordered Ngirishi to vacate her house and Ngirishi locked the door and went out to spend the night at her friend’s place. When she came back the following morning she saw her property outside, discovering that Mushamba had opened the door by unscrewing the latch,” said Mr Goto.

In her defence, Mushamba said that she broke into her room to turn off a tap so that she would save water that was running.

“As a woman, I could not fold my hands and watch the water bill going up as water was running out in her room, the reason I decided to break into her room and turn off the tap.

“I know I had no right to do that,” she said. Mrs Ndiraya said society did not expect her to act in the way she did because it looked up to her as a role model. She was ordered to pay US$100 or face 90 days imprisonment if she failed to pay by December 29.