Poacher Caught with Gun in Vwaza Reserve Gets Six Years

The Rumphi First Grade Magistrate’s Court has sentenced Gideon Mughogho, 35, to six years imprisonment with hard labour for possession of a weapon in a protected area without a permit.

State prosecutor and senior assistant parks and wildlife officer John Mabethi told the court that game rangers on night patrol in Vwaza Wildlife Reserve found Mughogho hunting with a muzzle-loading gun and arrested him.

Mughogho pleaded guilty. In mitigation, he said he committed the offence out of desperation, as he is responsible for paying school fees for his late brother’s children but has no steady income.

Mabethi asked the court for a stiff sentence, noting that poaching cases are frequent in the reserve and deterrent penalties are necessary to protect wildlife.

First grade magistrate Cuthbert Phiri agreed, saying financial hardship does not justify breaking the law. He observed that if everyone resorted to poaching for survival, the country’s wildlife would disappear.

Phiri sentenced Mughogho to six years for possession of a weapon in a protected area without a permit, two years for entering the reserve without a permit, and two years and six months for hunting in the reserve. All sentences will run concurrently.

Mughogho comes from Khutamaji Village, Traditional Authority Zolokere, in Rumphi District.