High Court Judge Mzondi Mvula has sentenced Arafat Gomani to 63 years imprisonment with hard labour for killing Lucy Kadzamira, a sister to former president Hastings Kamuzu Banda’s official hostess Cecilia Kadzamira.
Kadzamira’s body was found in a decomposed state in her Area 47 house in Lilongwe in 2019.
Passing sentence on Tuesday, Mvula said as an old person, Kadzamira, who was 82 years old at the time, did not deserve to die brutally.
“Her vehicle was recovered but it is far too little compared to her precious life that was lost,” said Mvula.
During the trial, the court heard that Kadzamira was living alone in the house and the house boy used to commute from the nearby Mtsiriza Township.
However, she was previously staying with the main suspect, whom she parted ways due misunderstandings.
Gonani was arrested as a second suspect in Kadzamira’s murder. He killed her before stealing her vehicle, a white Mazda Demio registration number DZ 4606.
The first suspect is the deceased’s grandson, Kwame Kangulu, who is still at large.
Gonani was arrested at Nsalu in Lilongwe where he was offering for sale the deceased’s vehicle, through an agent.
In 2021, Principal Resident Magistrate Viva Nyimba sentenced Gomani to seven years imprisonment for theft of a motor vehicle.
Gomani hails from Maluwa village Traditional Authority Kabudula in Lilongwe district.
