Bulawayo Ward 26 councillor Mpumelelo Moyo has been jailed for a year after being convicted of demanding a US$20,000 bribe to fast-track the approval of land for a cement project in Cowdray Park.
Moyo, who chaired the city’s powerful Finance and Development Committee, was sentenced by Bulawayo provincial magistrate Richard Ramaboea to 18 months in prison.
However, six months were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour, leaving him to serve an effective 12 months.
Prosecutors said Moyo approached Labenmon Investments, which sought to build a cement mixing plant on a 5.6-hectare plot in Cowdray Park, and demanded payment to secure approval.
The company’s representative, Tsitsi Nyathi, reported the matter to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), which set a trap.
She invited Moyo to her home, where plainclothes officers arrested him moments after he accepted the marked cash.
Moyo was initially charged alongside Bulawayo deputy mayor Edwin Ndlovu, but charges against Ndlovu were later dropped after the State failed to link him directly to the offence.
During mitigation, Moyo’s lawyer, Prince Butshe of Butshe and Associates, pleaded for leniency, saying his client was a first-time offender, a breadwinner, and caring for two minor children.
Moyo also told the court he had no intention of engaging in corruption again.
In his ruling, Magistrate Ramaboea stressed that bribery is a serious offence and that corruption by public officials erodes public trust in local authorities.
He added that he had reviewed similar cases and found no precedent for a non-custodial sentence in such circumstances.
Moyo claimed that the US$20,000 was to be shared among 20 councillors, each allegedly expecting US$1,000 for approving the land allocation.
However, the court found him solely culpable for soliciting the bribe.
