A court in Mwanza has sentenced 42-year-old tanker driver, Kings Nyirenda, to nine years in prison after he was caught attempting to traffic 229 bags of Chamba through Mwanza Border.
Nyirenda was caught at Mwanza Border on 9 July when he was about to leave the country using a tanker truck registration number RU6659.
Regional prosecution inspector Assistant Superintendent Lewis Makiyi said Nyirenda had 229 bags of cannabis weighing 6,923 kilogrammes.
In court, Nyirenda pleaded guilty. He then asked the court for leniency saying that he is a breadwinner and the sole provider.
However, the state asked the same court to slap Nyirenda with a harsh sentence arguing that such cases are on the rise in the country due to misinformation or interpretation of the law.
According to Deputy Police spokesperson for Mwanza Police Hope Kasakula, Senior Resident Magistrate Sajda Maiden agreed with the State and sentenced Nyirenda to nine years Imprisonment with hard labour saying the sentence should act as a deterrent to other would-be offenders.
The sentence comes days after protesters took to the streets last week to demand President Lazarus Chakwera to pardon Mussa John who was sentenced to eight years in jail for Chamba possession before his sentence was reduced to three years.
Protesters argued that other people who committed similar crimes were only fined by the courts.
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