By Charles Dzimwasha
A Harare Magistrate Florence Chakanyuka has sentenced opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume to an effective 36 months in prison.
Delivering the sentence, Chakanyuka said Ngarivhume deserved a custodial jail term as a fine will trivialize the matter.
The Transform Zimbabwe party leader was condemned to 48 months in prison before 12 months were set aside meaning he will be a guest of the state for an effective 36 months.
Before the sentence, the defense counsel led by Prof Lovemore Madhuku had their application for refferal to the Concourt dismissed.
The opposition figure who foretold his incarceration is adamant that the judgment is politically-motivated.
“The day my enemies got their chance to send me away, and silence me for a while – my resolve remains unshackable.
” At court yesterday, the damn magistrate read her judgement happily with a broad smiling face, suggesting that she has gotten the jackpot to please her masters. Like a devil who has killed thousands in a genocide, she was showing a huge sense of accomplishment. ED is her god and she is delivering a bounty which may result in her promotion, “wrote Ngarivhume.
Many activists are shaken with the judgment with journalist Hopewell Chin’ono who once shared prison with Ngarivhume calling for calm.
“We are under a brutal regime that survives through corruption, so anyone who threatens its corrupt ways becomes an enemy and is thrown in prison. Mandela stayed in prison for 27 years, Mugabe stayed there for 11 years, prison doesn’t scare us. It shows how the regime has run out of ideas, even Mugabe at his worst never behave in this laughable manner. So, citizens remain calm, time and the world is on your side,” posted Chin’ono
