Ex-Minister Jailed Four Years For Corruption

Zimbabwe
President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The Zimbabwe Independent

A former Zimbabwe Energy Minister under ex-President Robert Mugabe, Samuel Undenge was on Friday sentenced to four years in jail after being found guilty of corruption.

His lawyer said that this is the first conviction of a Mugabe-era official since he stepped down.

Following a military coup in November 2017, Mugabe resigned after 37 years in power.

His former deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa took power, vowing to root out corruption in a bid to attract investors to an economy crippled by a decade of hyperinflation and a sharp shortage of foreign currency.

Undenge, was accused of issuing a 12, 650 dollars contract without due tender to a company that did not work.

His lawyer Alex Muchadehama told Reuters that he would appeal the court’s decision, saying the sentence was “shocking’’.

He will however only serve two and half years of the four year sentence after the court said 18 months would be conditionally suspended.

Former foreign minister Walter Mzembi faces charges of “criminal abuse of office’’ and former finance minister Ignatius Chombo has been charged with fraud when he tried to defraud the central bank over a decade ago.

They both denied the wrongdoing.

The Southern African nation is to choose a new president and members of parliament on July 30, in what is expected to be a close race between Mnangagwa’s ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

A poll published on Friday showed the vote would provide no clear winner, with 40 per cent of voters choosing Mnangagwa and 37 per cent his opponent, Nelson Chamisa.

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