The Isoka Subordinate Court has convicted Assistant Social Welfare Officer Jonathan Maruzah for fraudulently diverting K170,000 intended for social welfare beneficiaries for personal use.
Presiding Magistrate Honourable Bwali sentenced the 40-year-old Maruzah, of House No. 201, Kombe Drive, Top Shops in Mufulira, to two years of imprisonment with hard labor on each of the nine counts of unlawful diversion of public property, as stipulated in Section 34(1)(b) of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 3 of 2012. The sentences will run concurrently from October 17, 2024. Additionally, the court ordered statutory judgment for K180,050 to be forfeited to the State.
Maruzah was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2020 on eleven counts related to the fraudulent diversion of public funds. The charges detailed that between January 1, 2016, and January 30, 2017, Maruzah diverted K223,670 for his personal benefit, funds originally designated for social welfare beneficiaries and the administration of the Mafinga Social Welfare Department.
Maruzah was acquitted on counts seven and eleven. This conviction highlights the Anti-Corruption Commission’s commitment to holding public officials accountable for the misuse of public funds.
