Thief jailed for stealing from church

A GWANDA man has been jailed for a year for stealing electrical appliances and groceries worth $1 760 after breaking into the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe Church in Gwanda.

Nkosana Sibanda (32) of Sitezi was convicted on his own plea of guilty to unlawful entry and theft by Gwanda magistrate, Miss Lerato Nyathi. He was slapped with an effective seven months jail term. An additional three months jail sentence which had been suspended in July last year after he committed a similar offence was brought into effect.

Prosecuting, Miss Ethel Mahachi said Sibanda broke into the church during the night on February 7.

“On 7 February at around 9PM Mr Telephone Sibanda, who is the pastor of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Zimbabwe Church in Gwanda, left the church doors and windows locked. On 8 February at around 10AM Mr Themba Ncube who works at the church discovered that one of the windows at the church had been broken and the door was wide open.

“He alerted the pastor who checked on the property at the church and realised that two speakers, an amplifier, wall clock, a bicycle and groceries which comprised sugar, mealie-meal, juice, soap and cooking oil had been stolen,” she said.

Miss Mahachi said the matter was reported to the police who conducted investigations leading to Sibanda’s arrest. The stolen property is valued at $1 760 and property worth $500 was recovered from Sibanda.

In another incident, a security guard at a mine in Gwanda has been arrested for stealing 117 litres of diesel from his workplace.

Prince Sibanda (26) who is employed at a mine in Guyu was convicted on his own plea of guilty to theft by Miss Nyathi. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment but five months were suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years.

The remaining one month was further suspended on condition that he restitutes his employer $233.

Prosecuting, Miss Mahachi said Sibanda stole the diesel sometime between November and December last year.

“On dates unknown but during the period extending from November to December last year Sibanda while on duty at Forest Blance Mine stole 117 litres of diesel from the mine plant fuel pump. He sold 70 litres of the stolen diesel to Trust Ncube.

“The offence was discovered by the mine plant manager, Mr Tawedzerwa Rugodo, during a stock inventory check in February. The matter was reported to the police who carried out investigations, leading to Sibanda’s arrest. The stolen diesel is worth $233,” she said. — @DubeMatutu GWERU City Council is reviewing its by-laws to align them with contemporary urban developmental trends in a bid to curb serious loopholes in both revenue generation and collection, Acting Town Clerk, Mr Sam Sekenhamo, has said.

Addressing a full council meeting, Mr Sekenhamo said some of the city’s by-laws were outdated and had been overtaken by business trends.

“Council is currently reviewing all major by-laws, for instance those for fire, water, shop licensing, traffic and vending. Our teams are currently busy reviewing all the by-laws as we speak. The process should be done in the next quarter,” said Mr Sekenhamo.

“Reviewing of fire by-laws has already started, the draft has been done and we expect the process to be completed in the second quarter of the year. We are also pushing for the adoption of some new by-laws, especially for elements such as push carts, which are a challenge confronting council, hence they need a comprehensive legal framework to have them incorporated and regulated.”