Lusaka man escapes noose

THE Supreme Court has reduced the death sentence of a Lusaka man to a 30-year jail term.
The High Court had sentenced Lackson Ngosa, 36, of Zingalume Township in Lusaka to death on two counts of aggravated robbery but he appealed against the sentence.

Supreme Court Judge Elizabeth Muyovwe, sitting in Ndola, replaced the death penalty with a 30-year jail term.

The appellant was convicted and sentenced to death by the lower court for two counts of aggravated robbery contrary to the Laws of Zambia.

The appellant on June 15, 2009 in Lusaka, while armed with a gun, did steal one television set, a DVD player and a cellular phone valued at K1, 750, all property of Mukuba Chimweka .

In the second count on the same date and place, while armed with a gun, he stole a television set, a DVD player and two cellular phones from Muyembe Njovu.

The evidence was that the appellant on June 15, 2009 at about 17:00 hours went to the first complainant’s house and pointed a gun at him and his mother who were in the house.
He then gagged the two and tied their legs before getting away with the said items.

Despite the appellant covering his face with a head soack when committing the offence, the complainant, who was one of the witnesses, told the court that he recognised him by his voice as he had worked for him for a period of two years and identified him as Ngosa.

The second complainant testified that the  appellant  on the same day wore a mask on his face when he came to her house with a gun which pointed at her before stealing her properties.

She  testified that  before  the appellant stole, she managed to identify him as Ngosa a man she knew for a long time because he had once worked for her at the farm.

In passing the Judgment, Ms Justice Muyovwe said the trial court erred in the judgment of aggravated robbery.

She said the court did not take  the gun used for ballistic examinations to determine whether it was the fire arm used or not.

“A mere use of a firearm does not mean aggravated robbery unless the firearm in question is examined under the Firearm Act,” she said.

She then sentenced the appellant  to 30 years in prison  with hard labour effective from the day of his arrest.