mbulelo smpofu
Raymond Jaravaza and Sikhulekelani Moyo
A BULAWAYO woman, Ms Panashe Mpofu, has been released from prison after being sentenced to two years for disciplining teenagers, including her own child, for hosting a Vuzu party during school hours.
The incident occurred in Luveve suburb, where Ms Mpofu found the teenagers, who were in Form Two, hosting a vuzu party.
These parties are known for promoting under-age drinking, substance abuse and unprotected casual sex, putting teenage girls at risk of contracting STIs and unwanted pregnancies.
Ms 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 last night, Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Permanent Secretary, Mrs Vimbai Nyemba, confirmed that Justice Kabasa had quashed the magistrate’s sentence and conviction on review and issued a warrant of liberation.
“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,” said Mrs Nyemba.
After Ms Mpofu was slapped with a two-year sentence for disciplining the teenagers, there was a public outcry as some Bulawayo residents and social media users felt the mother had been punished for doing something that a parent must do — to reprimand a child or children when they do wrong.
Mpofu was represented by lawyer Mr Tinashe Runganga of Tanaka Law Chambers in Bulawayo.
“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,” said the mother in a video recorded from prison.
She said she found them drinking alcohol and beat them up.
“However, one girl’s mother then said I was not supposed to beat her child and reported me to the police,” said Ms Mpofu.
“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.”
