Second Grade Magistrate’s Court in Mzimba District has sentenced two men to seven years imprisonment with hard labour for grievously harming two people at Khonsolo in the district.
On 15 January this year, the two, Mavuto Shaba, 41, and Nemon Shaba, 45, hacked Jevas Shaba and Timothy Shaba with panga knives over land wrangles and as a result, one of the victims has stopped talking while the other one cannot walk.
The court, through state prosecutor, Patrick Lungu, heard that these wrangles span way back to 2017, and along the period, a lot of people have been victimised by the duo, including causing damage to people’s crops and animals.
However, appearing before the court, the duo pleaded not guilty, prompting the state to parade five witnesses to prove their guilt.
In mitigation, they asked the court for leniency, stating that they have got loans from NEEF and if sent to prison, they will fail to repay the loans.
Second Grade Magistrate Wongani Kumwenda, in agreement with the state, sentenced the convicts to seven years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
