By DELPHINE ZULU –

.Prophets

A SELF-STYLED PROPHET who fleeced K10,000 out of a Lusaka widow by promising to bring resurrect her deceased husband has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with hard labour.
Magistrate Mary Chibanga told Angel Sakala, of Lusaka, a custodial sentence was necessary to deter others of his kind from conducting themselves in similar manner.
“There is need to impose a custodial sentence to act as a deterrent to all prophets conducting themselves otherwise and swindling innocent and desperate citizens by taking advantage of their situations. Having considered mitigation, I now sentence you to 18 months with hard labour,” she told him.
Ms Chibanga warned Zambians not to allow themselves to be swindled in such clear circumstances and to keep in mind that only God had such powers as to be able to raise the dead.
She said Zambians needed to be cautious in their interactions with men of God – both local and foreign – who claimed to possess divine powers.
Sakala was charged with one count of obtaining K10,170 from Beatrice Kasonde by offering to bring back to life her late Kenneth Kalunga when he had no such powers.
She said those who wanted to be missionaries or servants of God should do so with honesty as many people had problems and needed men and women of God to help them without expecting anything in return.
While appreciation could be offered by those who had received help, it was wrong of Sakala to demand such a huge sum of money from Kasonde knowing full well he had no means to perform the promised miracle.
Magistrate Chibanga said according to the evidence on record, the prosecution team had proved their case beyond any reasonable doubt.
She found Sakala’s explanation that he had been unable to bring Kalunga back to life because Kasonde was not his wife but just a girlfriend as not convincing, noting that she had stayed with her sister-in-law after the death of her husband.
The magistrate said the fact that the convict continued asking for money for transport, buying certain things for rituals and keeping her Automated Teller Machine (ATM)card was an indication that he was hoping to perform the miracle, which he knew was impossible.
In mitigation, Sakala said had been diagnosed with tuberculosis during his stay in prison and that he had learnt a lot of things, good and bad, and asked the court not impose a custodial sentence.
“My wife ran away from home, leaving the children alone and if I am slapped with a custodial sentence, my children will suffer as they will have no one to take care of them,” he said.