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Zengeza west MP Job Sikhala was granted US$600 for obstructing the course of justice in Harare yesterday.
Sikhala was also given another six months wholly suspended on condition of good behaviour
“You were arrested but you tampered with the course of justice and this should be stopped in future even to would-be offenders,” Gofa further said in her ruling.
“In case, accused has been in custody for 11 months and sending you to prison will be too harsh.
“So, the sentence should be of restoration so that when you go back to the society, you will reform.”
Before sentencing, Sikhala gave his personal circumstances in mitigation, insisting that he never breached the law in the 50 years since birth.
“My life has been without blame. I lived within the strict confines of the law and I believe in a saying that where there is law, there is a remedy.
“I have never taken the law into my own hands and I do not wish to see the law being turned into an oppressive tool,” he said.
His lawyer Jeremiah Bamu also implored court to consider Sikhala’s long pre-trial incarceration in handing down sentence.
“He has already served penalty in this case,” Bamu said, adding that if court was to include a year of remission, it would mean Sikhala has already spent a year and a quarter in custody.
“He has 11 children in various stages of their academic life; some in High School, some universities and some in primary school.
“Accused is a lawyer; he has not been able to hunt during the past 10 months he has been locked up.
“He has to start from zero, look for new clientele; that is a punishment on its own.
“The accused must not be punished to a point of being broken.
“If court is to give him a custodial sentence, this punishment will break him.”
Appearing for the state, Oscar Madhume, in aggravation, said the court should take into account the seriousness of the offence and the interests of society in assessing Sikhala’s sentence.
He said there should also be balance with the interests of the accused.
