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The Senior Resident Magistrate’s court in Limbe has sentenced Safuli Stonken, 28, to 21 years in jail for robbing Traditional Authority (T/A) Ntchema of Chiradzulu.
Sub Inspector Rachael Namwada, a prosecutor based at Limbe Police, the incident took place on 18 August, 2021 at a bridge constructed by Member of Parliament in Limbe.
Sub Inspector Namwada told the court that on the material day, the convict who was together with his accomplices while armed with panga knives, robbed the chief whose real name is Growfat Makawa, 61, who was with two others.
Namwada further told the court that the T/A was robbed of his two cellphones (TNM 4G and Itel), Identity card, drivers licence, ATM cards and cash amounting to K60, 000.
Namwada, his two friends; Ishmael Maulidi, 26, and Madalitso Dambo, 27, were robbed of two cellphones, K10, 000 cash, and one cellphone, K10, 000 cash respectively. All the stolen items were valued at K320, 000.00.
Safuli was arrested by Limbe Police detectives, and was charged with robbery contrary to Section 300 as read with Section 301(2) of the Penal code.
When he appeared in court, he denied the case levelled against him prompting the state prosecutor to parade four witnesses who testified against him proving him guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
In submission, the state prosecutor prayed for a stiffer sentence, citing the seriousness of the offence committed. She told the court that cases of robbery were on the increase, hence the need for a deterrent sentence.
In mitigation, Safuli asked the court to be lenient on him, saying he was the breadwinner and that he takes care of his relatives.
But passing his judgement, Senior Resident Magistrate Byson Masonga while quashing the convict’s mitigating factors concurred with Namwada.
He therefore, sentenced Safuli to 21 years imprisonment with hard labour to act as a deterrent to would-be-offenders.
Safuli Stonken comes from Bandazi village in the area of Traditional Authority Makhuwira in Chikwawa district.
