By JANE MWANSA –
THIRTEEN suspected members of a notorious Kitwe youth gang called 90 Niggas – the youngest of them a 13-year-old boy have pleaded not guilty to a charge of idle and disorderly conduct in a magistrate’s court.
The group, recently apprehended in Bulangililo Township where gangs of juveniles have reportedly been menacing the community, told magistrate Leonard Tembo they understood the charge when it was read and explained to them.
The courtroom was filled with family members of the accused, but there was not nearly as much of the emotional tension as there was when the boys first appeared in court on Monday during a hearing characterised by wailing from some family members.
The group, with the oldest of them 18-years-old, were arrested on April 4 this year and were remanded in custody awaiting their next appearance in court which Mr Tembo set for April 20 for mention and April 30 for commencement of trial.
And in a separate case before the same court, three juveniles have pleaded guilty to trafficking in psychotropic substances contrary to the laws of Zambia.
Magistrate Tembo convicted the three boys, aged between 15 and 18 and all of them from Kawama township in Kitwe of unlawful possession of marijuana weighing 0.42 kilogrammes on April 2, 2018.
Magistrate Tembo adjourned the matter to April 23, 2018 for social welfare reports.
