Prosper Dembedza Herald Correspondent
The man who paid US$4 426 lobola with part of the US$195 000 he stole from Mahomed Mussa Wholesalers, his employer, has been slapped with a two-year jail term.
Chamunorwa Muvhuti (40), who was a merchandiser at Mahomed Mussa, was convicted by Harare magistrate Mrs Apollonia Marutya after finding him guilty of theft.
Muvhuti had pleaded guilty. In mitigation, Muvhuti told the court that the employer was not paying enough.
Mrs Marutya initially sentenced Muvhuti to 36 months in prison before setting aside six months on the condition that he would not commit a similar offence in the next five years and another six months were suspended on condition Muvhuti pays US$5 000 restitution to Mohammed Mussa before February 28 next year.
In her sentence ruling, Mrs Marutya said the court had considered that Muvhuti was a first offender and did not waste the court’s time and resources.
She recognised that Muvhuti was a family man and had children who are under-age to look after.
Most of the money was recovered and Muvhuti did not benefit enough from it.
“However, the accused breached the trust between him and the complainant who is the company,” said Mrs Marutya.
On December 21, around 5pm Muvhuti connived with Jeremiah Kwenda and Phineas Moyo, who are security guards at Mohamed Mussa, and hid in the shop where he was locked inside when it closed.
He used a sharp metal object to break a black portable safe away from the wall and took it away.
The next day, the business discovered the safe was missing and made a police report. On Christmas Day, detectives arrested Muvhuti in Mupande Village, Chief Chitsungo in Pfungwe, where he had gone to pay lobola to his in-laws.
The court heard that Muvhuti led the police to the recovery of US$186 100 at his home in Chitungwiza.
He also led police to the recovery of a black portable safe that was positively identified by the complainant as the one that had been stolen from the shop together with the US$195 000.
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