CCC councillor jailed 12 months for US$20,000 bribe

Ward 26 councillor Mpumelelo Moyo has been jailed for a year after he was convicted of soliciting a US$20,000 bribe to fast-track approval of a cement manufacturing project in Cowdray Park.

Moyo, who chaired the city council's influential finance and development committee, was found guilty of demanding the kickback from Labenmon Investments in exchange for securing approval for a 5.6-hectare plot earmarked for the project.

Bulawayo provincial magistrate Richard Ramaboea on Monday sentenced him to 18 months in prison, but suspended six months on condition of good behaviour. He will serve an effective 12 months behind bars.

Prosecutors said Moyo pressed Labenmon's representative, Tsitsi Nyathi, for the payment, prompting her to alert the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC). Nyathi later lured the councillor to her home, where plainclothes ZACC officers arrested him moments after he accepted the marked cash.

Moyo was initially charged alongside deputy mayor Edwin Ndlovu, but the State later dropped charges against Ndlovu after failing to establish a direct link to the offence.

In his ruling, Magistrate Ramaboea said corruption by public officials was a "grave offence" that eroded public confidence in local authorities.

Moyo was represented by lawyer Prince Butshe of Butshe and Associates.