JAILED chief, Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni, who was last
week jointly convicted with his 23 subjects for destroying a villager’s
property in Ntabazinduna, has approached the High Court seeking bail pending
appeal.
Ndiweni (54) and 23 other villagers pleaded not guilty to
damaging Mr Fetti Mbele’s property but were convicted by Bulawayo magistrate,
Ms Gladmore Mushove.
Chief Ndiweni and his subjects were each sentenced to 24
months in jail and six months were suspended for five years on condition that
they do not within that period commit a similar offence.
Chief Ndiweni was sentenced to an effective 18 months in
jail while his subjects had their remaining 18 months wholly suspended on
condition that they perform 525 hours of community service at local schools and
clinics.
The chief, through his lawyer Mr Dumisani Dube of Mathonsi
Ncube Law Chambers, filed the application for bail pending appeal at the
Bulawayo High Court citing the State as a respondent.
In his bail statement, Chief Ndiweni said there were
prospects of success in his appeal against conviction and sentence such that if
granted bail there was no likelihood of him endangering the interests of
justice by absconding.
“The applicant submits that his admission to bail pending
the determination of his appeal does not in any way endanger the interests of
justice in that he is a chief and an established member of his community who is
also a family man and has no prospects of absconding,” said Mr Dube.
Chief Ndiweni’s lawyer said the magistrate failed to
appreciate that the State did not prove all the essential elements of the
offence of malicious damage to property.
“It is therefore only fair, proper and just that the
applicant be admitted to bail pending the determination of his appeal. Even if
his conviction were to be upheld by this honourable court, his appeal against
sentence has reasonable prospects of success in that the custodial sentence
imposed by the court a quo induces a sense of shock,” he said.
Mr Dube argued that the magistrate failed to give cogent
reasons for discriminating against Chief Ndiweni by denying him the option to
perform community service while his co-accused were granted that option.
The State is yet to respond to the application.
According to court papers, Mr Fetti Mbele of Ntabazinduna
was banished from the village by the chief after his wife Ms Nonkangelo
Mpengesi was allegedly caught having sex with another villager in 2017.
Chief Ndiweni ruled that Mr Mbele’s wife should vacate her
husband’s home, but she did not comply with the order since they had resolved
the matter as a couple, prompting the chief to order the destruction of the
couple’s fence and kraal. Chronicle
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