Balaka Senior Resident Magistrate Joshua Nkhono has ordered three men to pay a fine of K100,000 each or face 18 months imprisonment with hard labour for cutting down trees in a forest reserve without authority, contrary to Section 46 of the Forest Act.
The men, Misheck Masese, Joseph Mcherewatha and Paul Mungomo, who have since paid their fines, were caught on June 26 this year cutting down trees at Demeter Fuel and Crops Farm Forest Reserve without permission.
Mungomo, 49, is from Makawa Village; Masese, 52, is from Chilimba Village; and Mcherewatha, 70, is from Tapuwa Village—all under Traditional Authority Nkaya in Balaka District.
