Four people in Lumbadzi, Lilongwe have been convicted and ordered to a pay fine of K60, 000 each or in default serve 12 months imprisonment with hard labour for failing to comply with government regulation on farm produce contrary to regulation 16(1)(a) price as read with regulation 6 of control of goods act.
The Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court sitting at Mkukula through State Prosecutor Inspector Bodwin Msukwa heard that the four, Lloyd Sankhulani, 31, Gerald Kandodo, 37, Baloni Mateyu, 41 and Chiphazi Yosefe, 36, were arrested on July 30, 2021 at Lumbadzi Trading Centre in the district of Dowa.
Lumbadzi Police Station Public Relations Officer Felix Kwinyani says the four were arrested after being found buying farm produce without a licence from government, using non certified weighing scales by Malawi Bureau of Standards and failing to comply with an order from government on price control.
Appearing before the court, the four pleaded guilty to the charges leveled against them.
In his submission, Msukwa prayed for the court to give a stiff punishment to the convicts in order to give a lesson to them and other would be offenders.
Passing sentence, Senior Resident Magistrate Cecelia Onsewa concurred with the state and ordered the four to pay a fine of K60,000.00 for contravening Agricultural rules and regulations.
Sankhulani hails from Kabudula village, Mateyu from Nkhuni village both under Traditional Authority Mkukula in Dowa while Kandodo comes from Chiwera village in Traditional Authority Wimbe in Kasungu and Yosefe is from Ching’amba village in Traditional Authority Kabudula in Lilongwe.
Police in Lumbadzi further warn all unscrupulous traders who are buying farm produce from farmers without licences from government and appeal to people to sell their farm produce to government certified buyers.
