By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –

THREE men yesterday appeared in the Lusaka magistrate court for stealing 68 pigs and piglets valued at more than K136,000.
The animals belong to among others, MMD losing candidate for Itezhi-Tezhi David Diangamo.
Richard Mweemba 38, Evans Benja 36 and Nester Nakatoba 31 are facing four counts of stock theft and killing 31 piglets valued at K62,000.
Nakatoba, a trader of Kanyama Township, however, pleaded guilty to three counts of stock theft and told magistrate Soche Zulu that he wanted to sell the animals so that he could raise school fees for his sister.
But Mweemba, a garden boy of Shimabala and Benja a fisherman of Kafue pleaded not guilty to all the four counts.
They are, in count one, alleged to have on March 18, 2014, stolen 10 pigs valued at K29,700 property of Grace Bupe.
Mweemba, Benja and Nakatoba are in the second count alleged to have on March 31, 2014 in Lusaka, stolen nine pigs valued at K18,000 belonging to Mr Diangamo.
In the third count, they allegedly stole 18 pigs valued at K27,000 property of Martin Simunza on March 24, 2014.
Mweemba, Benja and Nakatoba are in the fourth count charged with killing animals with intent to steal.
It is alleged that the three on March 31, 2014 in Lusaka, killed 31 piglets valued at K62,000 after they poisoned them to prevent them from making noise.
The piglets belonged to Mr Diangamo.
After the charges were read out to them by Ms Zulu, Mweemba and Benja told the court that though they understood the charge, they were not guilty.
Nakatoba admitted to the three counts of theft but denied killing the 31 piglets.
He told the court that he did not know the owners of the animals he stole but he had intentions to sell them to raise money for his sister’s school fees.
Nakatoba said police, however, seized the animals from him before he could sell them.
Ms Zulu has since set   May 7, 2014 for reading of facts to Nakatoba in relation to the three counts he pleaded guilty to, and fixing of trial dates for all three in the fourth count.
Meanwhile, a 19-year-old man of Northmead area in Lusaka has been dragged to court for unnatural offences.
Jeremiah Siame of house number 20 Manchinchi Road is alleged to have on March 24, 2014 in Lusaka had unlawful carnal knowledge of a named boy.
According to the boy, on the material day, he was playing football with his friends when a man he did not know called him and took him to a nearby bush where he allegedly sodmised  him.
The boy told the mother that Siame, a barman, had allegedly removed a knife and threatened to kill him if he screamed.
The boy and the mother reported the matter at Chipata Police Post, where they were issued with a medical form which they used to obtain a medical report from the hospital.
Chief resident magistrate Joshua Banda has allocated the matter to magistrate Prince Mwiinga.