Two Men Jailed 10 Years for Robbery Using Trick in Lilongwe

The Second Grade Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe has convicted and sentenced two men, Brown William, 43, and Fred Banda, 42, to 10 years imprisonment for a robbery of K1 million worth of money and items in the form of Chimtambala trick.

The court heard from Prosecutor Inspector Bauleni Namasani of Lilongwe Police, that the incident occurred on July 11, 2025, around 08:00 hours at Area 4, Maula Junction.

Namasani said that on the said date, the victim had traveled to Lilongwe Town to purchase items for business.

While at Simso Fueling Station, he noticed a bunch of K5,000 banknotes wrapped in a blue transparent plastic bag.

Then a man, who later turned out to be part of the robbery scheme, picked up the money and lured the victim into agreeing to share it at a quieter location.

The victim and the suspect then boarded a motorcycle taxi (Kabaza), to Area 4, Maula Junction.

Upon arrival, the victim was ambushed by the suspects who were armed with screwdrivers.

The robbers stole K550,000 in cash, a Redmi Note 12 cellphone, and a Vivo cellphone from the victim, all valuable at K1 million.

William and Banda, pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery, and in mitigation, they asked the court for leniency, citing their roles as family breadwinners.

However, Prosecutor Namasani prayed to the court to impose a stiff sentence, arguing that the crime was premeditated and involved the use of weapons, endangering the victim.

Passing her sentence, Second Grade Magistrate Taonga Muwalo, concurred with the prosecution, emphasizing that the crime was well-orchestrated and involved threats of violence, and thus warranted a deterrent sentence.

Magistrate Muwalo then went on to sentence both men to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour.

Brown William hails from Chamba Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Tambala, Dedza, while Fred Banda comes from Gwaza Village, T/A Ganya in Ntcheu District.