Man fined $100 for saying Mugabe is 'nothing, but old rubbish'

A 26-year-old Marondera man has been fined $100 for labeling President Robert Mugabe "nothing, but old rubbish".

Tinashe Mupereki was on Monday convicted on his own plea of guilty to the offence when he appeared before Marondera magistrate Victor Muhammad. The court found him guilty of undermining the Head of State and ordered him to pay a fine or face a two-month jail term.

Prosecutor Tariro Shirichena told the court that on August 22 this year Mupereki and the informant Varisto Munjonjo were drinking beer at a bar in Rujeko Township.

Mupereki was playing snooker while the informant was watching Mugabe's inauguration ceremony on television in the same bar.

The court heard that after a while, Munjonjo asked Mupereki to move away from the television as he was obstructing him, but the latter lost his temper and shouted: "The President is nothing but old rubbish".

Munjonjo then reported the matter at Dombotombo Police Station, leading to Mupereki's arrest.