Magistrate arrested for stealing court blankets

Mwenezi Magistrate, Tapera Bvudzijena appeared at Masvingo Magistrates Courts last week and was remanded in custody for allegedly stealing blankets, television sets and refrigerators which he later sold.

Some of the stolen blankets were allegedly recovered at Bvudzijena's rural home in Chivhu. The State alleges that Bvudzijena who is the Resident Magistrate for Mwenezi entered the strong room at the courts on June 5, 2012 where he stole various exhibits and then went on to sell them. Among the goods stolen were blankets, television sets, refrigerators and other valuable goods.

The exhibits were supposed to be auctioned to the public on 29 June 2012. Bvudzijena who appeared before provincial magistrate Esther Muremba stole the exhibits before the auction date and sold some of them to unsuspecting members of the public. When he was arrested by Police details from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) some of the blankets were recovered from his rural home in Chivhu.

This becomes the second case of dishonest involving magistrates in less than a year. Zaka resident magistrate Geoffrey Gogo was also arraigned before the courts, after he allegedly received US$1,500 as bribe and sentenced a man who was being charged with stock theft to community service. Stock theft attracts a mandatory jail term of 9 years.

Meanwhile, early this year there was a massive transfer of magistrates throughout the country as a way of curbing corruption.