Mulanje Senior Resident Magistrates’ Court has convicted and sentenced three men 10 years imprisonment for vandalising of an ESCOM transformer and theft of its underground cables.

Appearing in court yesterday on on 3rd September 2024, the trio, have been identified as Gift M’mangisa, Geoffrey Patrick and Afiki Charles

Regional Prosecution Officer-South-East, Bartumeyo Adzaonenji, said Senior Resident Magistrate Glory Mwatiwamba jailed the men after they were convicted for the offences committed in Chiradzulu District in August 2024.

The case was eventually transferred to Mulanje.

“The jail term is deterrent enough considering that the offences were pre-meditated. The act of vandalism has affected power supply to Nguludi Hospital and businesses. The vandalized transformer cables cannot be used again and this is a big loss for ESCOM [Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi],” Adzaonenji said.

He said the court sentenced the three convicts to 27 months for conspiracy, 18 months for theft and 10 years for vandalism.  The convicts have since started serving their sentences, running concurrently, at Mulanje Prison.

The convicts had pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit theft, theft and vandalism contrary to section 45(4)(b) of the Electricity Amendment Act of 2024 and being found in possession of the stolen equipment contrary to section 45(4)(a) of the same Act.

The Police arrested Charles and Patrick at Ntanyula Village in Chiradzulu on 17 August 2024 after finding them burning a cable to extract its copper wires.

M’mangisa fled from the scene and was eventually arrested in Limbe with pieces of copper.

The 20-year-old Patrick and Charles, aged 30, traveled from their base in Blantyre City to link with the Chiradzulu-based accomplice M’mangisa, to commit the offences.

M’mangisa hails from Maloya Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Likoswe whereas Patrick and Charles are from Chagunda, T/A Changata in Thyolo District and Mbalame Village, T/A Mpama respectively.

ESCOM engaged the Judiciary and Malawi Police Service in sensitization meetings in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Liwonde last month to orient them on the Electricity Amendment Act of 2024, that President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera assented to in May this year.

Vandalism has cost ESCOM K4 billion in the last two years in lost revenue and replacement cost.