The sentence has left the parish, which is part of Kilimanjaro East Region of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) and the entire Northern Diocese in total disbelief.
Moshi. A lead pastor at Ruaya Lutheran Church in Kilimanjaro Region, Zawadiel Maruchu, has been sentenced to one year in jail after being convicted of conning a woman Sh8.3 million in a dubious land deal.
The sentence has left the parish, which is part of Kilimanjaro East Region of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) and the entire Northern Diocese in total disbelief.
Himo Primary Court magistrate Shaban Mkude, on Monday found the pastor guilty of conning Ms Judith Matemba Sh8.3 million in a dubious land deal on September 16, 2011.
Earlier, the court was told that the defendant had approached Ms Matemba and convinced her of a well situated plot which was up for sale at Sh8.3 million. The pastor offered to broker the sale of the land, and even took Ms Matemba and her husband to tour the site, which they liked and resolved to buy.
The dubious sale was made at the Reverend Maruchu’s house. Ms Matemba brought with her the money in cash. After receiving the money, the pastor led a short prayer to ‘bless’ the transaction and told her that he would take the money to the owner of the land whom he named as Boniventura Kilawe.
In his judgment, magistrate Mkude said, given his status as a man of God Ms Matemba had no second thoughts in placing her trust in him.
However, after a short time, Ms Matemba learnt that the plot belonged to a different person who was unaware of the sale. From there, she tried without success to recover her money from the pastor. The laws prescribe for punishment of up to three years imprisonment for such an offence, but before the judgment the accused pleaded for a leaner punishment citing health issues, family responsibilities and that he was a religious leader.
Apart from receiving a year behind bars, he was also ordered to pay the money to Ms Matemba at the end of his sentence. Yesterday, Ms Matemba confirmed to this reporter that she received back her money from the pastor’s family soon after the case.
