A 45 year-old man found guilty of cultivating marijuana pleaded with the court to let him escape a prison term saying he only grew the herb to keep witches away from his home.
Christopher Galimoto was convicted of cultivating the illegal herb but in mitigation he asked the court to give him a fine saying he planted the prohibited plant as African medicine against acts of witchcraft at his home and not for any other issue.
He also told the court that he is a breadwinner and the father of five children two of whom go to school. Commenting on the mitigation from the convict, the state through prosecutor for Neno police Sub Inspector Ishmile Abubast told the court not to be convinced with what the suspect said because the quantity of the cannabis was fit for custodial sentence since it weighed 9kgs.
The prosecutor asked the court to impose a stiff punishment to the offender to deter others from doing the same.
However, the court ordered the convict to pay a fine of K80,000 for the offence of cultivating of cannabis sativa locally known as Chamba.
When passing his sentence, Neno second grade magistrate Danuel Dzowera told the court that since the suspect was using the illegal plant for herbal use and that he has a huge responsibility at home, a sentence of K80, 000 was ideal for him.
Wish decision of the judge Chamba is legal in many countries including 1/2 of the United States Canada, and many European countries,,
Maybe Malawi will wake up soon and join the rest of the world and legalize and sell chsmba to earn taxes