A 37-year-old woman from Mazabuka, who was co-accused with her 40-year-old boyfriend for stealing sugarcane from a field belonging to Zambia Sugar, has been sentenced to 22 months of simple imprisonment.

Naomi Banda was jointly charged with Muunda and two other males, Muyumbelo Mwiinga, 22, and Emmanuel Mwiinga, 20, for the offence of theft contrary to section 272 of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.

The particulars of the offence are that on 27th July 2024, all four individuals, jointly and whilst acting together, stole 4,752 internodes of fresh sugarcane valued at K47,520.

Facts reveal that Naomi and her boyfriend initially went to the Zambia Sugar cane fields to engage in sexual intercourse around 01:00 hours.

When the attempt failed due to the presence of other people cutting cane in the fields, Muunda told Naomi that he needed to get some sugarcane to sell and raise money for her.

Earlier, her boyfriend was sentenced to 20 months of imprisonment with hard labour, while the other two males received a suspended sentence of three years imprisonment with hard labour and will serve only 18 months.