Zomba Resident Magistrate court has convicted and sentenced a 59 year-old man to 18 months imprisonment for keeping a live hyena in his house in the district.
State Prosecutor Josophine Chigawa , identified the convict as Henry Njolinjo who is also a herbalist and was arrested on 15 September 2023.
Passing judgment on Thursday, Senior Resident Magistrate Christopher Makumba said Njolinjo was guilty of being found in possession of endangered species without license which is contrary to Section 86 Sub section 1 of the Wild life Act.
There was laughter and more laughter in court when the herbalist cried in agony as Makumba sentenced him to 18 months.
The Magistrate said maximum penalty of this crime is K15 million fine on top of three years imprisonment with hard labour.
Njolinjo set a trap at Ulumba hills where he caught the hyenas after a bunch of hyenas proved menace on his goats for several occasions.
Villagers who felt unsafe with the hyena tipped the police and this prompted the law enforcers to arrest him for failing to produce documents to back his possession of the wild animal.
Lilongwe Wildlife Trust intervened in the case and carried out test to ascertain if it were a real hyena and the test proved that the animal which Njolinjo was keeping in his compound was a real hyena.
According to the Senior Resident Magistrate Court, the hyena was taken to Lilongwe for proper habitant.
Senior Resident Magistrate said Njolinjo committed a serious crime that also kept lives of other people in his area in danger.
Appearing before the court on Wednesday this week, Njolinjo pleaded guilty to the charge against him and further said he has three children to pay for their school fees and he did not know that keeping a hyena was a crime.
Considering a number of factors that included the convict’s age and the fact that the hyena was recovered alive and sent to the rightful habitant, the court sentenced the herbalist to 18 months imprisonment.
Source:MANA
