Former perm sec Gudyanga benefits from presidentia...

Former perm sec Gudyanga benefits from presidential amnesty

Gudyanga willing to pay back US$29k | H-Metro — **Francis Gudyanga**

Zim Now Writer

Francis Gudyanga, the former Mines and Mining Secretary who was sentenced to two and a half years for abuse of office, is one of the beneficiaries of the presidential amnesty recently granted by President Mnangagwa during the Independence Day celebrations.

He was serving time at the Harare Central Prison and was released Friday.

Following his conviction in February 2022, Gudyanga was sentenced to four years in prison.

But Harare Magistrate, Barbara Chimboza, had then suspended 18 months of the sentence on condition he restituted the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) a total of US$25 228.

Speaking to journalists as he boarded a Zimbabwe Prisons Correctional Service bus which was on its way to the Central Business District, Gudyanga thanked well-wishers for supporting him during his incarceration.

The former permanent secretary was donning a grey suit and t-shirt, almost unrecognizable.

“We want to thank our families, friends and well-wishers for their support and prayers and their visits but also, we want to thank the prison officers who looked after us very well.

“I appreciate the companionship of our fellow inmates,” Gudyanga said, smiling.

Four hundred and five inmates, mostly the elderly, were released from Harare Central Prison.

A total of 4 279 pardoned inmates including 104 women will be released from prisons around the country.

Those who have been pardoned include the terminally ill, females and juveniles who are not serving specified offences.

Also, those who benefited in the Presidential Amnesty had served one-third of their sentences by April 18, 2023 while those who remaining behind bars were convicted for violence-related offences.