BY NUNURAI JENA
A 20-YEAR-OLD Banket man was jailed for one year by Chinhoyi magistrate Letwin Rwodzi for wearing Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) uniform.
Malvern Makuranga of Templeton Farm, Banket, who is employed at UMC Gold Mine, was arrested on March 7 after he was found wearing a ZNA uniform.
He was charged with unlawful possession or wearing of an army uniform.
Makuranga, who pleaded guilty to the offence, said he did not know that he was committing an offence by wearing the uniform that belonged to his older brother who works for the ZNA in Mutare.
Asked why he wore the uniform when he was not an army officer, Makuranga said he wanted free transport because he did not have bus fare from Banket to Chinhoyi.
Rwodzi slapped Makuranga with a one-year prison sentence. However, he will spend nine months after three months of his sentence were wholly-suspended for five years.
In passing judgment, Rwodzi said cases of abuse of army uniform had been increasing recently, adding that offenders should be dealt with severely because they use security uniforms to do criminal activities.
