Sentencing her, Harare magistrate Vongai
Muchuchuti-Guwuriro said Kagonye betrayed the trust bestowed on her as a top
civil servant.
“The court takes cognisance that the accused was a former
minister and she is the best person to see schools within her constituency
benefiting, but she decided to take the bread away from the hungry children,”
Muchuchuti-Guwuriro said in her ruling.
Kagonye will, however, spend 16 months in jail after 12
months were suspended on condition of good behaviour, while eight months were
set aside on condition she restitutes the Postal and Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) US$10 000 equivalent to the laptops
she stole.
The magistrate said theft of public funds and property
could not be tolerated.
“A crime as such is a problem to democracy and social
welfare. The conviction will certainly be severe punishment on its own. With
the serious underdevelopment problems the country is facing it is sad that one
can steal public funds. There is a need for the accused to restitute the value
of the computers so that those meant to benefit still benefit,” the magistrate
said.
In mitigation, Kagonye had pleaded with the court for a
fine, saying she was the sole breadwinner.
Muchuchuti-Guwuriro said Kagonye had requested a donation
of computers to give to Goromanzi South schools, but no computers were given to
the schools.
The court heard that between June 2018 and July 2019,
Kagonye wrote to former Information Communication Technology minister Supa
Mandiwanzira requesting computers to donate to schools in Goromonzi.
On June 20, 2018, Mandiwanzira wrote to Potraz requesting
facilitation of the donations through its e-learning project to Goromonzi South
schools.
Potraz then donated the computers to Kagonye, which were
collected by her brother Evans on her behalf and he signed the collection form.
But the computers could not be accounted for when Potraz
made a follow-up, leading to the former minister’s arrest. Newsday
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