A Bulawayo magistrate has delayed sentencing convicted Zanu-PF Ward 1 councillor Josiah Mutangi and his co-accused, Janet Zhou, after a dispute over whether the politician is suitable for community service.
Mutangi and Zhou were last week convicted on 13 counts of fraud after they swindled local vendors of money by falsely promising them vending bays. The pair, who had denied the charges, was found guilty by Bulawayo magistrate Richard Ramaboea on Thursday.
In his judgment, Magistrate Ramaboea said vendors had only handed over their money because they were assured of legal vending bays that would allow them to trade without running from municipal police, but Mutangi and Zhou instead defrauded them. He said receipt books produced in court and the constitution of their purported Bulawayo Achievers Association were part of a ploy to evade the charges.
On Tuesday, the case returned to court for consideration of sentence after the pair was sent for community service assessment. The report presented to the court concluded that Councillor Mutangi was not a suitable candidate for community service because of his public position.
“The report before this court states that the accused person is a prominent individual hence it would be difficult to find a suitable institution to place him to perform community service. His prominence makes it difficult to find a supervisor for him,” the magistrate said.
However, their lawyer, Constance Mathaba of Makiye and Partners, challenged the recommendation, arguing there were several institutions that could supervise him.
She said the assessment’s reasons were not supported by evidence and suggested that if he were placed at a police station, trained officers could monitor his community service, or that alternative arrangements could be made to secure an appropriate supervisor.
In mitigation, Mathaba submitted that Mutangi was a first-time offender who had learnt from the experience and was prepared to compensate the complainants. She said the extensive media coverage of the case had already caused him significant embarrassment and that he would not want to repeat such conduct.
“The accused has never broken the law until now. He is also willing to destitute the complainants their money. For a person of his standing, he has learnt his lesson,” she said, adding that the public scrutiny surrounding the case had been punitive in itself.
Magistrate Ramaboea has postponed the matter to Wednesday for his ruling on the appropriate sentence for Mutangi and Zhou. He also dismissed claims by the pair that the charges were driven by political motives from the vendors.
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