Gweru magistrate suspended over 'flawed' judgment

MIDLANDS - GWERU magistrate Getrude Mayonyose has been suspended for three months pending a hearing after a stock thief got away with a $400 fine.

A stock theft case has a mandatory jail sentence of seven or more years.

Mayonyose in February this year fined Felix Tafirei Mujuru, a Mvuma-based farmer, $400 for stealing a bull belonging to his neighbour.

The ruling was, however, reversed by Bulawayo High Court Judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo after the case was sent for review.

Justice Moyo questioned how a stock theft case which has a mandatory jail sentence of seven or more years could attract a fine of only $400 when the accused person had confessed to stealing.

In her recommendations, Justice Moyo said the chief magistrate's office should take appropriate action against Mayonyose while Gweru lawyer, Tonderai Chitere, of Chitere, Chidawanyika and Partners, who led the defence was blasted for manufacturing facts which contradicted Mujuru's version of recorded facts.

Chitere had his case referred to the Law Society of Zimbabwe.

His fate is still to be determined