obert Martin Gumbura will be out of prison in just five years after the High Court slashed his sentence by half following an appeal.
The pastor was serving an effective 40-year jail term for rape and will now have to serve half of the years following a successful appeal against his sentence.
His lawyer, Lovemore Madhuku says he might have five years remaining considering the remission of sentence.
“In the magistrates’ court, he was given 50 years before 10 years were suspended conditionally.
“He has been in jail since 2014 meaning that he has already served part of the remaining sentence, also taking into account what it is called remission of sentence.
“You will find out that he is left with about five years,” said Madhuku.
The appeal was heard by Justices Charles Hungwe and Edith Mushore.
He said the reason why the State consented to the reduction of Gumbura’s prison term was because the regional magistrate erred in convicting him over a complainant who alleged she was raped twice.
He said the State agreed that she was indeed raped on the first encounter but failed to bring out the abuse on the second count.
Gumbura is accused of raping several female congregants and threatening to place them in the hands of the devil if they refused.
