GWANDA magistrate Sheila Nazombe yesterday sentenced a policeman to three years imprisonment for accepting a bribe via mobile money transfer platform EcoCash.
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Lawson Mubaiwa (24) was convicted of accepting $460 from the mastermind of a botched gold deal earlier this month although he had denied the charge.
However, Mubaiwa will spend two years behind bars after one year was suspended on condition that he is not involved in corrupt activities in the next five years.
The deal ended tragically when Witness Moyo and Melusi Nkala were crushed to death by their gateway truck at a mine in West Nicholson after they had bribed Mubaiwa who then gave them the green light to steal some gold ore.
Nazombe said what aggravated Mubaiwa’s case was that he is a cop who was supposed to uphold the law.
Nazombe said evidence by one of the accused in the gold ore theft Vusumuzi Moyo was consistent and refused to believe Mubaiwa’s version that the money transferred was repayment of an existing debt.
She said it was not coincidentally that a day after the money was sent to him Vusumuzi and his accomplices were arrested.
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Nazombe said the EcoCash transaction and phone calls between Vusumuzi and him corroborated the evidence.
Witness Moyo (26) of Mathabisa village and Melusi Nkala (18) of Vokola in Insiza district, died on the spot when they were run over by the truck as they fled from the scene after police found them loading stolen gold ore and fired shots into the air.
Their accomplices Vusumuzi and Bien Mlilo are currently serving a six-month jail term after pleading guilty to the theft of gold ore.
