By PRUDENCE CHOTA –
A-THIRTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD man in Ndola has been sentenced to 30 months imprisonment with hard labour for trafficking in marijuana.
Golden Siabwacha of Nkwazi overspill in Ndola appeared before magistrate Misozi Banda and pleaded not guilty to the charge against him.
Particulars of the offence were that on July 8, 2014, Siabwacha trafficked in marijuana weighing 10.8 kilogrammes.
In his defense, Siabwacha told the court that thieves had broken into his home and stole goods belonging to him.
When he asked his neighbours about who had broken into his home, he was told that it was the police who searched his home while he was away.
“When I approached the police men, they said they were talking me to court for trafficking in psychotropic substances called marijuana, which I did not,” he said.
Ms Banda, however, found the accused guilty considering that the marijuana was brought before court and that witnesses who reported him to police before he was arrested, had testified how they found him with the substance.
In mitigation, Siabwacha told the court that he was married with children and was looking after his siblings who were still in school.
