Zimpapers Logo

Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
TWO men who stole galvanised iron pipes from a plot owned by Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) Deputy Commissioner General Rhodes Moyo, have been sentenced to nine months imprisonment.

Brian Mthombeni, 39, of Gwarava Village in Mberengwa and Offias Maphosa, 27, of Mwenezi pleaded guilty to theft when they appeared before magistrate Sheila Nazombe.

The pair stole 10 galvanised iron pipes worth $480 from Moyo’s plot which is at Rouiberg Farm in West Nicholson.

Three months of their nine months sentence were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.

The remaining six months were suspended on condition that each of them performs 210 hours of community service starting today.

Mthombeni will serve his sentence at Gwarava Hospital in Mberengwa while Maphosa will be at Mayezi Secondary School in Mwenezi.

In sentencing the duo, Nazombe said she had taken into consideration that they were first offenders and that the stolen property was all recovered.

“You stood to gain property worth $480, 00 with no sweat at all. You should learn not to reap where you didn’t sow,” she said.

For the State, Moses Gondongwe told the court that on June 1 this year, a worker at Moyo’s plot, Vincent Ngwenya discovered that 10 galvanised iron pipes were missing.

“A report was made to the police who recovered the galvanised pipes from Maphosa’s field which led to the arrest of the two accused persons,” said Gondongwe.