A 25-YEAR-OLD Chitungwiza man was yesterday convicted of
criminal insult by a Harare magistrate for retweeting a message from a ghost
account named after Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Priscilla
Chigumba.
Night Tawona Shadaya of Zengeza pleaded guilty to the
charges when he appeared before magistrate Rumbidzai Mugwagwa.
Shadaya will be sentenced today. While pleading for mercy,
Shadaya told the court that he only realised the next morning that he had
committed an offence and had damaged Chigumba’s dignity.
“Your Worship, I was drunk when I retweeted the message
from another Twitter account named after Chigumba.
I realised it the next morning that she would be hurt by
the tweet. That is why I deleted it as I was back to my sober senses,” the
convict said.
Shadaya, who appeared drunk in court, left the gallery in
stitches when he said he often drinks only two Black Label quarts of beer, but
on the day in question, he had consumed three.
The State alleges that in August this year, an unknown
person created a Twitter account in the name of Chigumba and tweeted a message:
“I can’t wait for the elections fiasco to come to an end. I could do with a
holiday and some good sex. My body needs a break.”
Francisca Mukumbiri appeared for the State. Newsday
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