A Lilongwe court has jailed Bickton Ndaziona for 20 years with hard labour after finding him guilty of robbing his business partner of a motorcycle.
The Principal Resident Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe sentenced Ndaziona for the robbery of Rodrick Hapion, while a separate murder case involving the accused is still pending.
Ndaziona was convicted of robbery following an incident in which Hapion was allegedly attacked and killed, although the separate murder case arising from the incident is still pending before the High Court.
According to Lilongwe Police Deputy Public Relations Officer Khumbo Sanyiwa, Ndaziona phoned Hapion, with whom he was doing a groundnuts business, and told him that he had found two bags of groundnuts for sale in Nathenje.
The two later met at Ndaziona’s house, where Ndaziona allegedly told Hapion that he had also kept some chickens for him in another room.
Police said that when Hapion entered the room, Ndaziona attacked him with a stone, hitting him on the head, before allegedly slitting his neck with a knife.
Ndaziona is further alleged to have stuffed Hapion’s body into a sack and hidden it in his room until nightfall.
He later allegedly transported the body on Hapion’s motorcycle and dumped it under a bridge at a nearby river in an attempt to conceal the crime.
The following day, Ndaziona allegedly took the motorcycle to another woman’s house for safekeeping.
When the woman asked him about the motorcycle, he reportedly claimed that his brother had bought it from Mozambique.
Police investigations subsequently led to Ndaziona’s arrest, after which he was charged with robbery and murder.
During sentencing, prosecutor Kandeya asked the court to impose a stiff custodial sentence, citing the manner in which the offence was planned and committed.
Principal Resident Magistrate Bernad Chulu agreed with the State, describing the offence as serious and noting the circumstances surrounding its commission.
The court consequently sentenced Ndaziona to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour for the robbery of the motorcycle.
The murder charge has since been committed to the High Court, where the case remains pending.
