Masumba jailed for 12 months with hard labour

The sentence is with effect from 12th November 2013.
Magistrate Wilfred Muma in delivering sentence this morning observed that the offence Masumba had committed to erroneous obtain a NIPA accounting technician diploma to get a job is an act of selfishness and with far reaching devastating consequences.

Magistrate Muma who is also Deputy Registrar in charge of local courts imagined the extent of the devastation Masumba caused in his six years tutorial of students with his forged qualifications while working at Lusaka Business and Technical College (LBTC) from 2005 to 2011.

Magistrate Muma says this is why the 12 months imprisonment with hard labour befits Masumba’s conduct despite him being a Member of Parliament, government Minister and father to young children.

He noted that the sentence meted out on the Mufumbwe Member of Parliament will also serve as a deterrent to other people with similar calibers as that of Masumba whose conduct has the potential to bring about decay of professional standards of graduates coming from the country%u2019s public institutions such as LBTC.

Earlier in his Mitigation through his lawyer Lisimba Mutakela, Masumba pleaded with the court not to hand him a longer sentence because that would bring misery to the people he represent as an MP as well as his family and his young children being the bread winner of the family.

He also pleaded that besides being the first offender he had also been law abiding by diligently and faithfully attending the court proceedings throughout the duration of the case and therefore deserved a suspended sentence out of the Magistrate’s utmost lenience.

Meanwhile Mr. Masumba has been granted a K10, 000 bail pending appeal to the High Court in his recognizance with two working sureties.

[qfm]