Ntabazinduna Chief Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni’s lawyer has filed an appeal against his two year prison sentence.
The lawyer, Dumisani Dube of Ncube Mathonsi Law Chambers appealed that the sentence be reviewed to a ZW$20.00 fine.
Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushowe, Friday, sentenced Chief Ndiweni to 24 months in jail. She suspended six months for five years on condition of good behavior while the remaining 18 months were an effected jail term.
Dube argued that the sentence was too harsh considering the value of property destroyed is ZW$300.
He said considering the threshold imprisonment was 24 months, it was unfair to impose a jail term at the expense of community service.
Dube said the court was supposed to consider the other 23 convicted assailants were executing a valid order when they committed the offense.
“The court erred in failing to appreciate that Chief Ndiweni had powers the powers to do what he did. The Ndebele culture and customary law empowered him to banish out of his jurisdiction any subject convicted of a customary offence,” cited Dube.
According to the state, on July 26 last year at around 4PM, Chief Ndiweni ordered Kimpton Sibanda (72), a village head and two other villagers to destroy Fetti Mbele’s garden fence and kraal.
Sibanda instructed the villagers to destroy the fence and kraal. At around 5PM, Chief Ndiweni arrived and ordered the villagers to continue destroying Mr Mbele’s fence and kraal.
The order followed Mr Mbele’s alleged defiance of Chief Ndiweni’s verdict to divorce his wife.
