The Chama Subordinate Court has sentenced a 49 year old man to 3 years imprisonment with hard Labour for obtaining money by false pretenses contrary to section 309 of the penal code chapter 87 of the laws of Zambia.

This was after James Lungu of Chama district was found guilty of 11 counts of obtaining money by false Pretences and his sentence will run concurrently.  

Brief facts are that James Lungu on dates unknown but between 01 April, 2024 and November 5, 2024 did obtain money from 11 different individuals amounting to K13,470 on the pretext that he was going to register them into a cooperative for them to receive fertilizer when in fact not.

In mitigation, Lungu asked Chama Resident Magistrate, Sifaya Mwanagombe, to exercise leniency on him as  he was a family man with 9 children and that he was also looking after his 85 year old blind mother.

And delivering judgment, Magistrate Mwanangombe said he took note of the mitigation given by Lungu including the fact that he was a first offender. 

Magistrate Mwanangombe said he was disheartened by the fact that the convict took advantage of the peasant farmers who were working hard to fend for their families through their meagre resources.

He added that some of the affected farmers could only earn money once a year stating that swindling them of their hard earned money meant that they would not produce anything this year.

Magistrate Mwanangombe noted that some of the farmers would not recover as a result of the action by the convict.

Considering all these repercussions, Magistrate Mwang’ombe said Lungu deserved to go to prison so that he could reflect on his actions and transform into a better person. 

Lungu was therefore sentenced to a three year jail term with hard labour.