By KASONDE KASONDE –

.Katongo

A MEDICAL doctor of Luampa Mission Hospital in Mongu has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for defaming President Edgar Lungu and threatening to murder another doctor using a fake Facebook page.
Kwalela Kafunya was yesterday convicted by a Mongu magistrates’ court on three counts of defamation of President Lungu, writing threats of murder and giving false information to a police officer.
Facts of the matter are that Kafunya created a fake Facebook account
for purposes of bringing the name of the President into ridicule by posting disturbing remarks, insults and digitally altering images.
In the first count, Kafunya created a Facebook account in the names of another person, who is also a medical doctor at the same hospital.
In the second count, Kafunya sent written threats to murder the doctor in whose name the Facebook account was created through text messages while in the third count he gave false information to a public officer of Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Police Station.
For the offences of defamation of the President and giving false information to a public officer, Kafunya has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for each count while for written threat of murder he has been sentenced to three years.
The sentences will run concurrently.
This is according to a statement issued by Police spokesperson Esther Katongo.
Ms Katongo said Police welcomed the judgment and believed that it would send a strong warning to all those that were in the habit of abusing social media.
She said Police officers were working hard to bring  perpetrators of social media abuse to book.