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Zomba Senior Resident Magistrate Court sitting in Mangochi Friday convicted and sentenced Samson Allison,49, to 21 years Imprisonment with Hard Labour (IHL) for kidnapping a four year old boy with albinism with an intention to sale him.
Eastern Region Police prosecutor Snr. Supt. Dickens Mwambazi told the court that the offence occurred during the night of November 20, 2017 at Tumbwe Village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Namavi in Mangochi.
He explained that the accused person, who is an uncle to the boy Amadu Wasi who is still missing, had admitted before the court to have connived with a colleague Jafali Ligomeka, 44, to sale the boy at K6 million.
“Ligomeka and Allison abducted the boy on the said night taking advantage of the absence of the victim’s mother who had gone to a funeral at Chilayi Village. The victim was left in the custody of her grandmother,” the prosecutor nattated.
Mwambazi added that, “The accused persons broke into the house of Amadu’s grandmother in the middle of the night and snatched the boy away from the grandmother and sped away with him.”
The grandmother then alerted the neighbors who later reported the matter to the police.
Allison pleaded guilty to the charge leveled against him which is contrary to Section 261 of the Penal Code while Ligomeka pleaded not guilty.
Mwambazi asked the court to give a stiff penalty to Allison describing his conduct as “inhuman and intolerable in any society”.
Resident Magistrate Chamdimba Nkhata said he found Allison guilty of the offence and convicted him accordingly.
“The offence is a serious one and government and Civil Society Organizations are working hard to protect people with albinism. I therefore sentence you to 21 years IHL to deter other would be offenders considering that the boy is still missing,” he sentenced.
But the court has since sent Ligomeka on remand to allow the police parade witnesses.
However the police are still investigating the whereabouts of the missing boy.
