THE Prosecutor-General’s Office yesterday conceded that the 40-year effective jail term imposed on RMG End Time Message leader, Robert Martin Gumbura, for ra-pe was too harsh.
Prosecutor, Editor Mavuto, made the concession while making submissions before High Court judges, Justices Charles Hungwe and Edith Mushore, at the hearing of Gumbura’s appeal against both conviction and sentence.
Judgment on the appeal was reserved.
Mavuto told the judges that while the State had conceded Gumbura’s sentence was too harsh, he was of the opinion that the jailed cleric’s prospects of success against conviction were still slim.
“As regards the sentence, a total of 50 years’ imprisonment was too harsh, especially considering the cases cited by my colleague (Gumbura’s lawyer Advocate Sylvester Hashiti). The magistrate ought to have ordered that part of the sentence should run concurrently, with the appellant serving in the region of between 20 and 30 years,” Mavuto said.
The prosecutor said the State had consented to the reduction of Gumbura’s prison time was because the regional magistrate also erred in convicting him over a complainant, who alleged she was raped twice.
“The State accepts that the complainant in count 9 was indeed raped on the first encounter, but on the other encounter, she did not explain fully how she was raped. I am of the view that her conduct on the second occasion is of someone who subsequently consented to se-xual intercourse,” Mavuto said.
During his submissions, Mavuto urged the court to uphold Gumbura’s conviction, saying the regional magistrate, who convicted him, Hosea Mujaya, had properly done so after analysing all the evidence that was before him.
“From the evidence on record, there is overwhelming evidence that there was no consent at all, but the victims were forcibly forced into submitting to having sexual intercourse with the appellant,” Mavuto said, giving an example of an incident where Gumbura raped a virgin complainant and warned her against allowing heathens to finish off his job, saying he knew where he had left off.”
Mavuto added: “The next day he called the complainant and said he wanted to finish from where he had left off.”
The State also said in another encounter with a different complainant, Gumbura quoted a Bible verse, concerning a maid servant, urging the victim to submit claiming he was a man of God, while on a different complainant he threatened to place her in the hands of the devil if she did not comply.
Gumbura’s lawyer maintained the sentence proposed by the State was still too harsh and urged the court, that in the event of upholding the conviction, it should consider cases such as the one of the late Johanne Marange leader, Godfrey Nzira.
Gumbura was being represented by Hashiti, Tapson Dzvetero and Keith Kachambwa.