Former Cabinet Minister Samuel Undenge has lost his case in which he was appealing a 30 Month jail sentence after he was convicted of criminal abuse of office in 2018, The Herald reports. Undenge was convicted of criminal abuse of office after he handpicked a Public Relations Company for ZPC without going to tender.
He was sentenced 30 months in jail and he appealed the sentence and the conviction and he wanted the court to order community service or a fine appropriate for the sentence. The High Court threw out his appeal on the basis that it was not excessive and it did not induce any sense of shock and outrage.
In dismissing his appeal Justice Joseph Musakwa said the crimes that Udenge was convicted of rose from subverting corporate governance:
I do not think that the appellant’s real defence is that of selective prosecution. If that is, then it is a tacit acknowledgment of wrongdoing save that his gripe is that he fell in the wrong political camp when the decision to prosecute him was made.
Ultimately, sentence is a matter of discretion. It cannot be said that the sentence that was imposed in the present case is disturbingly inappropriate
Undenge will now serve the full sentence.
More: The Herald