A Bulawayo city councillor has been jailed for a year after he was caught demanding a US$20,000 bribe to fast-track a cement manufacturing project in Cowdray Park.
Ward 26 councillor Mpumelelo Moyo, who chaired the powerful finance and development committee, was convicted of soliciting the kickback from Labenmon Investments in exchange for the approval of a 5.6-hectare plot earmarked for the project.
Bulawayo provincial magistrate Richard Ramaboea on Monday sentenced Moyo to 18 months in prison, but suspended six months on condition of good behaviour – leaving him to serve an effective 12 months.
Prosecutors said the company’s representative, Tsitsi Nyathi, alerted the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) after Moyo pressed for the payment. Nyathi then invited him to her home, where plainclothes ZACC officers pounced moments after he accepted the marked cash.
Moyo was initially charged alongside deputy mayor Edwin Ndlovu, but the State later dropped charges against him 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. -
