Ex-PF Choma officials jailed


The three, Exildah Mwale, 47, Tokyo Jere, 37, and Japhet Kamwendo, 34, wept in the dock immediately after Choma magistrate, Jacob Mbolela sentenced the trio and ordered three Police officers, who were in the courtroom, to take the convicts to prison.
Jere is the immediate past Choma District youth publicity secretary, Kamwendo is former Choma Constituency chairperson, while Mwale was just an ordinary party member,
Jere pleaded with magistrate Mbolela that he would pay the money he obtained dubiously instead of sending him to jail.
However, Mr Mbolela ignored his plea, saying the sentence was meant to deter would-be offenders.
Particulars of the offence are that on October, 3 2013, the trio, whilst jointly acting together in Machinda Township in Choma, obtained K3, 500 from Christopher Mwaanga after they sold him an illegal piece of land.
The trio purported that they had a plot in Machinda Township which they sold to Mr Mwaanga when in fact, the said piece of land did not belong to them.
In mitigation, Mwale pleaded for lenience, saying she was a first offender and was looking after two grand children with two orphans and if sent to jail, her siblings would suffer.
Jere also asked the court to exercise leniency saying he was a widower and that the late wife left behind a five-month old baby whom he was looking after.
When passing judgment, Mr Mbolela said the offence the trio had committed was on the increase in Choma as several people were swindled out of their hard-earned income.