Plumtree's senior magistrate fired

Plumtree's senior magistrate fired
Published: 2013 December 18 19:22:44 (4905 Views)
THE Judiciary Service Commission has fired Stephen Mavuna for misconduct and neglect of duty as a magistrate after 200 records went missing under his custody in a period of about four years.

Mavuna was a senior magistrate at Plumtree magistrates' court until he was discharged from duty for a contingent of charges which have now been commuted to criminal charges.

Chief magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe yesterday referred questions to spokesperson of the magistrates' association Munamato Mutevedzi who said Mavuna was no longer a magistrate after his dismissal on January 9, 2013.

"Mavuna is no longer a magistrate, he was discharged from service on January 9, 2013. He was facing a number of charges and was arraigned before a disciplinary hearing which resulted in his dismissal," said Mutevedzi.

Mavuna was charged with negligence in performing his duties, incompetence and falsification of registers of records, which resulted in his arrest on criminal charges, Mutevedzi said.

"Disciplinary charges were preferred against him and these also culminated into the criminal offence. Whatever he is doing now, he is no longer part of JSC as he is no longer in service," he said.

Mavuna came under fire after it emerged that he allegedly hid about 200 court records of proceedings between the years 2009 and 2012. He appeared in court on Tuesday and denied hiding or keeping any records before Bulawayo regional magistrate Trynos Wutahwashe on Tuesday.

He will be back in court tomorrow for continuation of trial.

The case could open a can of worms as the former magistrate implicated clerks of court (names given) whom he said have a habit of hiding records of proceedings. Mavuna has also told the court that the issue was known by his former superiors Mark Dzira who was resident magistrate then and the late Douglas Zvenyika who was provincial magistrate in charge of Matabeleland South.

The allegations come after several records were not accounted for at the Plumtree Magistrates' Courts.

Some cases were supposed to go for review and scrutiny or appeal but were either not sent or not returned to the station.

In his defence outline, Mavuna, who is represented by Dumisani Dube of Cheda and Partners, has said he was being wrongfully implicated when it was known that clerks were hiding files He wants Dzira to testify in court as a defence witness.

The State has produced records that were meant for review at the High Court and scrutiny at the regional court and others supposed to have gone for appeal were produced as exhibits in court.

A statement by the incumbent resident magistrate for Plumtree, Livard Philimon, showed that the rot was discovered in April last year.

Philimon said he worked with Mavuna between July 2011 and June 2012 and during routine checks he discovered that several records sent to the Regional and High Court had not come back while some sent to Mavuna had not been returned.

Philimon said he assigned a clerk to inquire with the relevant courts and found out that the records had been received and Mavuna allegedly endorsed false dates to give a false impression that he had sent them for respective assignments.

Prosecuting, Goodluck Katenaire said from the period 2009 and June 2012, Mavuna allegedly did not submit records of proceedings which he kept in his office while some disappeared.

It is alleged that false entries were made into the scrutiny, review and appeals registers to give an impression that the records had been dispatched.

This could have deprived several appellants and convicts of their rights to appeal as they could not have access to their records.

The court heard that a total of 191 records were not accounted for.

About 162 were supposed to go for review, 16 for scrutiny and 13 for appeals but were allegedly channelled otherwise.

- Zim Metro
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