Anger over missing ID gets man fined

Anger over a missing national identity card has left a 20-year-old man in trouble.

The Second Grade Magistrate’s Court at Ngabu in Chikwawa on Thursday fined the man for disrupting ID distribution exercise after his ID was not found.

The convict, Aaron Jimu, was found guilty of conduct likely to cause breach of peace and was ordered to pay a fine of K30,000 or in default, serve 3 months in prison.

Police Prosecutor, Martin Thulu, told the court that on 20 January, Jimu went to Chadyamanja Primary School in the district with the intention of collecting his ID.

“His name, however, couldn’t be found in the identification sheet and he was told to report again the next day for verification,” Thulu told the court.

He went back to the school the next day while reportedly drunk.

“Again, his name couldn’t be traced, prompting him to resort to violence. He banged on the tables and snatched the identification sheet and ran away with it,” explained the prosecutor.

Jimu was arrested and in court he was found guilty of conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

In his submission, Thulu asked the court to consider meting out a harsh sentence, arguing that       Jimu had disturbed citizens of Malawi who wanted to acquire their national IDs as the process was suspended after the incident.

In mitigation, Jimu cried for leniency saying he didn’t know what he was doing since he was under the influence of alcohol.

In his ruling, Second Grade Magistrate Cedric Chidika concurred with the state and condemned the convict’s conduct saying “he had acted as a bad citizen.”

Chidika therefore slapped Jimu with a K30,000 fine or in default a 3-month-prison term.

Aaron Jimu hails from Khumbidzi Village in T/A Ngabu in Chikwawa district.