Two former City of Harare managers, Stanley Ndemera and Emmanuel Mutambirwa, have each been sentenced to effective nine-year jail terms after being convicted by the Harare High Court on charges of Criminal Abuse of Duty in July 2024.
Ndemera, the former Acting Finance Director, and Mutambirwa, the former Valuations and Estate Manager, were sentenced on Friday, August 16. They received 10 years in prison, with one year suspended for five years.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the brief facts of the case are that the accused persons facilitated the unlawful sale of three commercial stands to Optel Enterprises Private Limited, Silverharbour Enterprises Private Limited and Leanforth Investments Private Limited. The accused persons acted unlawfully in that:
1. They sold land that was under an extant lease agreement with Old Hararians Sports Club
2. They offered the stands for an outright sale against the standing council resolution of 2005 which prohibits the sale of land without going to tender
3. They failed to secure an Environmental Impact Assessment Report from the Environmental Management Agency prior to the development of the commercial stands
4. They failed to institute change of reservation procedures
5. They did not fully comply with the provisions of Section 152 of the Urban Councils Act in that they were supposed to advertise the land in two publications notifying the public of their intention to sell, instead they only published a single notification
6. They failed to submit a copy of the first advert to the Minister of Local Government and Public Works within the stipulated time in terms of Section 152 of the Urban Councils Act.
Initially, four accused persons were charged for the offence. However, Hebert Gomba who was the first accused was discharged at the close of the State’s case whilst Daniel Usingarahwe, the fourth accused person was acquitted after a full trial.
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