Gutu man convicted and jailed for assaulting FAZ o...

Gutu man convicted and jailed for assaulting FAZ official

Zim Now Writer

Gutu magistrate Mitchell Panavanhu has sentenced a Masvingo man to serve one year in jail after convicting him for an offence, which allegedly involved querying some shenanigans committed by the shadowy Forever Associates of Zimbabwe.

51-year-old Goodson Matanda, who resides in Gutu, Masvingo Province, had been on trial after he was arrested on June 1, 2023 by police officers, following a verbal altercation with FAZ members who were stationed at a Zimbabwe Electoral Commission polling station, which had been designated by the elections management body as an inspection centre for purposes of the voters’ roll inspection exercise.

For the alleged offence, Matanda was charged with assault as defined in section 89(1)(a) of the Criminal Law (Codification an Reform) Act.

During trial, prosecutors alleged that on June 1, 2023 and at Rafomoyo Primary School in Gutu, Matanda assaulted Shamiso Madondo, a resident of Gutu, who is employed by FAZ and who had been deployed at the school, writing down some details of people engaged in the inspection of the voters’ roll.

The court heard that Matanda arrived and allegedly started taking pictures of Madondo and Zanu PF members who were at the school using his mobile phone handset.

A misunderstanding reportedly arose after the Zanu PF supporters questioned why he was taking pictures of them.

Matanda, the State alleged, then assaulted Madondo during the altercation and accused her of being used by the ruling Zanu PF.

Matanda, who was represented by Dereck Charamba of Ndlovu and Hwacha Legal Practitioners, and had been out of custody on bail, was on Friday August 11 convicted by magistrate Panavanhu, who sentenced him to serve 12 months in jail.

However, Matanda will perform 315 hours of community service after Panavanhu suspended the jail term on condition of good behaviour and him completing the community service.