Man lost motorcycle due to fear of bloodsuckers

A man who was sleeping outside his house to avoid bloodsuckers gave a burglar a chance to steal from the house.

Confirming the development was Machinga police publicist, Constable Davie Sulumba who said the robber identified as Moyenda Mafken Nazombe has since been sent to prison.

According to Sulumba, the Nanyumbu Second Grade Magistrate court in Machinga on Wednesday sentenced the 35 year-old thief to five years in prison for stealing the motorcycle, a solar panel and a curtain, all valued at K309,000 while the owner was sleeping outside due to bloodsucking rumours.

Sulumba said prosecutor Constable Gift Kalamula of Nselema Police Post told the court that during the night of October 25, 2017 the criminal broke into the house of a man in the district and went away with the items.

He said during the night of the incident, the owner Pius Kapoloma locked all the doors and windows and slept outside his house due to the bloodsucking rumours that are circulating in the country.

When he woke up on the morning of October 26, he was shocked to see that the front door of his house was wide open and when he rushed into the house to check his property he discovered that his motorcycle, a solar panel and one curtain were missing in the house.

Kapoloma also noticed that the criminal broke the window to gain entry into the house.

He reported the matter to Chikweo police unit against unknown.

Kalamula further told the court that on October 28, Kapoloma visited James Kotoko’s garage as he continued searching for his motorcycle and luckily when he arrived at the garage he found James busy repairing his (Kapoloma’s) motorcycle.

When Kapoloma asked the mechanic about the motorcycle, he revealed that Moyenda Nazombe was the one who brought the motorbike to his garage.

While Kapoloma was at the garage, the thief arrived and when he saw the owner of the motorbike he started running away.

But the thief was apprehended and taken to Chikweo police unit where he was placed in police custody.

When interviewed on the matter, Moyenda Nazonde admitted to stealing from Kapoloma’s house.

Nazombe further told the police that he sold the solar panel in Ntaja at the price of K7000 while the curtain was sold in Balaka at K5000. And when taken before court the suspect admitted to all the charges.

He was convicted on his own plea of guilty and prosecutor Kalamula asked the court to impose a stiff punishment to the convict since the offences he committed were serious offences and also that the offences were on the rise in the area.

Kalamula also advised the court that the convict benefited from the offence because he sold the solar panel.

In passing his sentence, Second Grade Magistrate Maxwell Boazi sentenced Nazombe to 60 months for burglary and 20 months for theft. The sentences will run concurrently.

Moyenda Mafken Nazombe comes from Longo village, Traditional Authority Chikweo in Machinga district.