Gweru, September 22 — Former Provincial Minister for Midlands Province in Zimbabwe was this Tuesday sentenced to four years in jail following accusations of criminal abuse of office, this after he parceled out State land to desperate home seekers in Gokwe, one of the towns in the province.
A day prior to the sentence, Mr. Machaya and his accomplice, former Midlands physical planner Chisayinyerwa Chibururu were found guilty of abuse of office involving the sale of state land in Gokwe.
Sentencing the former Midlands Minister alongside his accomplice, Magistrate Charity Maphosa handed the two four-year jail term each, however suspending 18 months for each on condition that the pair does not commit a similar offense in two years.
The two would therefore serve 30 months in jail.
Machaya faced charges of parceling out 17,799 residential and commercial stands to land developers, with the developers, in turn, handing the former Midlands Minister 1,791 stands of which the accused sold 1,185.
But last year when his trial commenced in Gweru, the Midlands Provincial capital, Machaya and his accomplice denied the charges.
Mr. Machaya also faces charges of unlawfully parceling out 192 residential pieces of land to the Apostolic Christian Church of Zimbabwe (ACCZ).
Machaya and Chibururu’s defense lawyer Alec Muchadehama has however filed for his clients’ bail pending appeal against the sentences handed down by the magistrate.