The Principal Resident Magistrate court sitting at Lilongwe has convicted and sentenced Bizwick Kamanga, 24, to 10 years imprisonment for stealing company property worth K6.5 million.
According to Lilongwe Police public relations officer Inspector Hastings Chigalu, the court heard through Lilongwe Police Prosecutor, Sub Inspector Damiano Nyasulu, that Kamanga committed the offence between June 2021 and March 2022 at Tech International Factory, Njewa, where he was employed as a watchman.
“Prosecutor Nyasulu further said that Kamanga stole from the company’s warehouse various property such as steel bars, electric wires, bags of red oxide, and ten genset batteries, among others.
“Appearing in court, Kamanga pleaded not guilty to the offence of Theft by Servant, despite admitting the same during caution statement at police. However, the State paraded four witnesses including the convict’s wife who testified against her husband to prove the case,” he said
In mitigation, the convict prayed for the court’s leniency when passing its sentence saying he is a first time offender, and that he is a family man.
But in his submission, Chigalu said the prosecutor asked the court for Kamanga’s stiffer custodial sentence citing breach of trust that the employer had on him.
The State also said that all the stolen property were not recovered hence, prayer for punitive sentence.
Passing his sentence, Principal Resident Magistrate Roderick Michongwe, concurred with the State saying offences being perpetrated by watchmen in their working places have increased in Lilongwe, let alone the country at large.
Michongwe then went on to sentence Kamanga to 10 years imprisonment to serve as a deterrent to other would be offenders.
The convict (Bizwick Kamanga) hails from Mambala Village, Traditional Authority Kabudula in Lilongwe District.
