BY LOMDAKA BANDA
A Zimbabwean couple has been fined K1 million and been ordered to leave the country for possessing dangerous drugs and willfully damaging a K1 000 Malawian banknote.
Spokesman for Central West Region, Alfred Chimthere, said the two–Tinashe Mukarati and Melisha Jackson–were found with 215 milliliters of narcotic liquid cocaine at their Area 43 residence on February 7, 2022 in the capital Lilongwe.
According to Chimthere, the two rolled a K1 000 not as a cigarette and used it to siniff the drug from a plastic bottle.
“They were charged for willfully damaging a K1 000 banknote,” Chimthere said.
Senior Resident Magistrate Florence Msekandiana fined the two K400,000 each for possessing dangerous drugs and K100,000 each for damaging a banknote.
“In mitigation, the duo said they are first offenders and that they showed remorse by pleading guilty.
“They further told the court that they have been on remand for 43 days and remained cooperative throughout the trial period,” Chimthere said.
But Senior Resident Magistrate Msekandiana went ahead with her ruling saying that the aggravating factors far outweighed the couple’s mitigation factors.
