A public prosecutor based at Kwekwe Magistrates’ Court, Vincent Musanga Chikombe, has been fired following retrial for a criminal offence committed two years ago.
Chikombe was found guilty of corruption, misconduct and abuse of office after he appeared before a disciplinary hearing on Monday.
The charges emanated from an August 2009 case where Chikombe was caught red-handed receiving a $300 bribe from Maria Moyo whose husband had been nabbed for stocktheft.
The matter was initially heard before a Kadoma magistrate only identified in court papers as Ndokawa who found him guilty of criminal abuse of office before sentencing him to six months in prison or $1 000 fine.
Chikombe paid the fine and somehow bounced back to work after being transferred to Kwekwe where he resumed duties in January this year.
Sources at the Attorney-General’s Office said his salary was reactivated after the Public Service Commission found papers on the initial disciplinary hearing were not in order and declared the hearing null and void.
But, some officials in the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs were reportedly not convinced and ordered a fresh investigation into the matter.
A committee chaired by a lawyer only identified as Fatima C Maxwell was appointed in February to hear the matter. On Monday, the committee found Chikombe guilty of misconduct, which is a dismissable offence.
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Chikombe was summoned to the ministry’s headquarters in Harare on Tuesday where he was served with a dismissal letter.
His lawyer Tapera Sengweni confirmed the incident.
“Chikombe is our client who has been appearing before a disciplinary hearing over an old case that happened in Kadoma some years back. We are yet to hear how he wants us to proceed following the verdict by the disciplinary committee because he is yet to instruct us,” said Sengweni.
