A court in Karonga has sentenced a Mzimba District Agricultural Development Office driver aged 50 to 20 months in prison for causing a crash that killed four family members, including a married couple.
The driver has been identified as Lenos Mulenga Kambuwa.
The state through Inspector Evans Mtepuka told the Karonga First Grade Magistrate Court that on 11 January 2020, Kambuwa was driving a Mzimba District Agricultural Development Office land cruiser station wagon registration number MG 610AJ.
According to a Karonga Police report, when the driver reached at a junction at Mwenilondo, he wanted to overtake a minibus and in the process the minibus suddenly turned to the right hence the driver of the land cruiser lost control of the vehicle and it overturned three times.
Palichi Munyenyembe who was the District Agricultural Development Officer for Mzimba, his aunt Sophie Munyenyembe, Palichi’s wife Patience Mwale Munyenyembe and another relative Evelyn Munyenyembe died due to the accident.
Appearing before court, Kambuwa was found guilty on charges of causing death due to reckless driving.
In mitigation, he pleaded for a lenient sentence so as not to lose his terminal benefits for he has worked in the civil service for over thirty years.
However, the First Grade Magistrate Julius Kalambo slapped the reckless driver to 20 months in prison with hard Labour on each count. The sentences will run concurrently.
Lenos Mulenga Kambuwa hails from Bondo village in the area of Traditional Authority Mabuka in Mulanje district.
