A Bulawayo woman who was sentenced to two years in jail for disciplining teenagers, including her own child, for hosting a Vuzu party during school hours, has been released from prison.
Panashe Mpofu found the teenagers, who were in Form Two, hosting a Vuzu party in Luveve suburb.
A Vuzu party is a term used to describe wild, unsupervised gatherings often hosted by teenagers, especially during school holidays.
These parties are characterized by excessive drinking, drug use (including marijuana), and often sexual activities.
They have become a concerning trend due to the risky behaviours and potential negative consequences, such as teenage pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Mpofu had been imprisoned at Mlondozi Prison, a section of Khami Maximum Prison, since November 14, but was recently set free by Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Evangelista Kabasa, after a review of the case.
Responding to inquiries from the Chronicle on Monday night, Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary, Vimbai Nyemba, confirmed that Justice Kabasa had quashed the magistrate’s sentence and conviction on review and issued a warrant of liberation. Said Nyemba:
If there is a dispute concerning a lower court’s judgment, a High Court judge revisits the papers for the case in question and they can issue a warrant of liberation or they can agree with the judgment. In the case in question, Justice Kabasa issued a warrant of liberation.
Mpofu was represented by lawyer Tinashe Runganga of Tanaka Law Chambers in Bulawayo.
In a video from prison, which sparked a public outcry among Bulawayo residents and social media users who felt the mother was punished for fulfilling her parental duty, Mpofu said:
It was on a Friday when I came back home from church. People told me that my son and his friends were having a party at a house nearby that they had bunked school.
However, one girl’s mother then said I was not supposed to beat her child and reported me to the police.
On November 13, I was told to come to court the following day. I spent the night at Mlondolozi Prison again. When I went to court, there was no one except the guards.
They told me that I had been sentenced to two years in prison for my offence, but they were going to deduct six months.
When I said I wanted to present my witnesses, they said my issue did not have witnesses, of which all my witnesses were there, but were not given a chance to say anything, leading to my fate.
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