By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE and MOFFAT CHAZINGWA-
A LUSAKA business executive has been sentenced to four years and five months with hard labour for impersonating a medical doctor and duping people out of their goods and money.
Lusaka Resident Magistrate Sheila Mweene said Bonaventure Nguni did not deserve to be part of society but must spend time in prison so that he could meditate on the unacceptable wrongs he committed to the people of Zambia.
Ms Mweene said she was punishing Nguni by slapping him with a 30 months sentence in count one, 10 months in count two, 18 months in count three and 24 months in the fourth count.
Nguni would serve count one and two concurrently and only start serving count three and four, which would equally run concurrently, after serving the two first counts.
Nguni was facing two counts of impersonating a medical doctor at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and Levy Mwanawasa Hospital while in count two and three, he was charged with obtaining goods and money by false pretences, the offences he readily admitted.
In passing sentence yesterday, Ms Mweene who exercised maximum lenience because Nguni was a first offender and was remorseful of his deeds said, society did not deserve people like Nguni.
She said the offences that Nguni committed affected all citizens in Zambia because he committed them in public institutions and wondered how far Nguni would have gone in breaking the law had he not been apprehended.
Ms Mweene who asked Nguni whether he knew what it took for one to become doctor said the convict’s conduct was actually insulting the profession of doctors.
“I have failed to understand what was going on in your mind. You are not supposed to be in society so I will give you a custodial sentence so as to remove you from society,” Ms Mweene said.
She said Nguni was a young man who could have used his energy to find better things to do than impersonating a doctor.
12 out of the 23 people that were arrested in connection with drug trafficking in Kitwe last Saturday yesterday appeared at the Kitwe magistrates court for plea.
The 12 suspects appeared in different court rooms as they were indicted individually.
Eleven pleaded not guilty to trafficking in psychotropic substances, while one admitted the charge.
Among those who appeared and pleaded not guilty included Henry Kabwe, 31, a garden boy of 518 Mulenga Township charged with trafficking 35 grammes of marijuana and Gift Chansa, 28, a bar man of Ndeke, charged with trafficking 3.8 grammes of marijuana.
Others were Mulenga Makasa, 34, a business executive of 2596 Riverside charged with trafficking 25 grammes of marijuana, Teddy Musonda, 32, of Ninth Street, Chamboli, charged with trafficking 25 grammes of marijuana, and Joseph Kombe, 45, a barman, of C7207 Wusakile Township charged with trafficking 0.5 grammes of marijuana.
The rest who also pleaded not guilty were Austin Musuka, 33, a truck loader charged with trafficking 70 grammes of marijuana, Andrew Chilumbi 22, unemployed, of 3513 Wusakile charged with trafficking 0.5 grammes of marijuana, and Rodgers Mukonde, 36, of Chimwemwe charged with trafficking 15 grammes of marijuana.
John Chansa, 28, a mechanic of 2481, Chimwemwe Township pleaded guilty to trafficking 12 grammes of marijuana.
Chansa, however, said the marijuana was for medicinal use for his ear as he had a hearing problem.
He told magistrate Kampinda Chipuma that he was advised to use marijuana for curing his hearing problem since he was rewriting his grade nine examination.
Magistrate Chipuma adjourned Chansa’s case to Friday for facts and sentencing.
The rest of the suspects were allocated different dates from July 25 to 30 for commencement of trial.
Particulars of the offence were that the suspects on July 12, this year trafficked in a psychotropic substance at Salvage Yard in Kitwe.
