Online Reporter
Yeukai Karengezeka-Chisepo
Court Correspondent
FOR 28-year-old Mitchelle Mutize, what began as an ordinary job behind a bar counter has ended in a hard lesson about trust, responsibility and consequences.
Mutize, who worked as a bar attendant at Zindoga Shopping Centre in Waterfalls, Harare, found herself on the wrong side of the law after bottles of expensive whisky went missing from her employer’s stock.
Appearing before Mbare magistrate Mr Alois Madzivanyika, Mutize was convicted of theft of trust property after she failed to account for the missing alcohol entrusted to her for sale.
The court heard that on April 16, 2026, her employer, Ms Prisca Mboole, had left her in charge of alcoholic beverages, expecting her to manage sales honestly.
But during a routine stock-taking exercise nearly two weeks later, Ms Mboole discovered that two bottles of whisky, Glenfiddich and Jameson, valued at US$230, had vanished.
When questioned, Mutize could not give a satisfactory explanation.
What followed was a police report, arrest and ultimately a court appearance that would change the course of her life.
Initially sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, part of the sentence was suspended on condition of good behaviour and restitution.
In the end, Mutize avoided jail time, but was ordered to perform 210 hours of community service at St John’s Primary School — a punishment that will see her swap the bar counter for public service.
Nothing was recovered from the stolen goods.
Mr Fidel Chiherenge appeared for the State.
