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Nyore Madzianike Senior Court Reporter

Marry Mubaiwa was yesterday fined $60 000 after being convicted of lying that Vice President Constantino Chiwenga had consented to solemnise their wedding at a time he was in hospital in India.

Harare magistrate Mr Lazini Ncube also sentenced Mubaiwa to a wholly-suspended 12 months jail term on condition she does not commit a similar offence within the next five years.

Mubaiwa was charged with violating the Marriages Act.

In sentencing Mubaiwa, Mr Ncube considered that she deserved a second chance and incarcerating her would fast-track her ill-health.

Mr Ncube said her ill-health would not permit her to perform community service and would be a burden to officials who would be monitoring her while performing the unpaid work.

Through her lawyer, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa, Mubaiwa had sought leniency from the court suggesting that she pays $20 000 in fine.

“The court must balance the interests of society against those of the accused person,” said Ms Mtetwa as she urged the court to ignore the status of the complainant, VP Chiwenga.

“The need to avoid imprisonment remains paramount in the sentence. It is not for retribution, but to reform. Sending an ill person to jail does not serve that purpose. This is not a heinous offence.

Ms Mtetwa said Mubaiwa was a first offender, undergoing medical attention and seeing a specialist every Tuesday.

“Throughout trial, she has been assisted in the dock because she cannot operate on her own or walk without assistance and sending her to jail would in fact be an attempt to fast track her condition which doctors are trying to manage,” she said.

“Daily management would not be possible if she is sent to jail. She will not be allowed the assistance of her mother or her assistant in jail. She has fallen, not just at home, but at court even while being assisted.”

Ms Mtetwa claimed that Mubaiwa was financially incapacitated after her bank accounts were frozen and having been in hospital for a long time has left her family financially constrained.

“Her wrong can be compensated by a fine of $20 000 as no one was harmed,” she said.

“It was an act of love which ought not to be punished.”

Ms Mtetwa said Mubaiwa did not act out of greed as she and her children were in 2014 listed among beneficiaries of the Chawasarira Trust by VP Chiwenga.

The State was represented by Mr Michael Reza, Mr Tafara Charumbira and Mrs Tendai Shonhai.

Mrs Shonhai called on the court to impose a custodial sentence against Mubaiwa, saying a fine would trivialise the offence.

“She misrepresented to a marriage officer, who is a judicial officer,” she said.

“She was very calculative and knew who to approach in the Judicial Service Commission. She started by the then president and later secretary of the JSC.

“She managed to secure particulars of her husband, who was bedridden, which shows premeditation on her part. No one in love would act in that manner. Her actions were not motivated by love but greed.”

Mrs Shonhai said Mubaiwa wanted to benefit from the estate of her husband, whom she thought was about to die, when she committed the offence.

“The fact that she is a first offender does not mean she does not deserve a custodial sentence,” she said.

“She started from the deep end and the court should not feel pity for her.”