Senior Resident Magistrate court sitting in Zomba, has found Godfrey Chingolo, a student at the University of Malawi, no case to answer on five charges relating to the sale of drugs that were alleged to be the cure for HIV/AIDS.
Zomba Police arrested Chingolo on suspicion that he was trading in drugs known as Gomora, which were alleged to cure HIV/AIDS. Through his relatives, he applied for legal aid. When granted, he was represented by Principal Legal Aid Advocate Hanleck Ching’anda, Senior Legal Aid Advocate Arius Chagunda with assistance from Tiyamike Kamtukule, an Assistant Legal Aid Officer.
In the Senior Resident Magistrate Court sitting at Zomba, the accused was charged with three counts of contravening Sections 106, 102(1)(m), and 102(1)(d) of the Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority Act of 2019. He was also charged with two counts contrary to Sections 319 and 323 of the Penal Code.
On charges relating to the Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority Act, it was alleged that the accused was selling medicines or allied substances with misleading information, making a false or misleading statement in connection with any medicine, and advertising medicines or allied substances without approval.
He was also suspected of false pretence and conspiracy to defraud, all contrary to the Penal Code.
During trial, the State paraded only one witness who told the Court that the accused had a WhatsApp forum where he advertised for a drug called Gomora stating that the said medicine cures HIV/AIDS. He tendered in a smartphone confiscated from the accused and screenshots of WhatsApp conversations as evidence.
On submissions on case to answer, the Bureau argued extensively that the State had failed in all the charges to prove that the drug tendered in Court was indeed Gomora and that the said drug does not cure HIV/AIDS.
Counsel submitted that while the Court is well versed in the law, it lacked sufficient knowledge and expertise to make a finding on whether the drug before it cures HIV/AIDS. Further arguments were made on the screenshots presented by the State witness. They had to be disregarded as their authenticity was in doubt, having flouted procedural laws on documentary evidence.
In his ruling, Senior Resident Magistrate His Worship Yohane Munthali held that the State had failed to prove that the drug before it was indeed Gomora or whether or not it cures HIV/AIDS.
The Court lamented that no expert witness was paraded to address the nature of the drug and that the State had brought to Court a half-baked case. The Court therefore found Godfrey Chingolo with no case to answer on all the five counts and he has accordingly been acquitted.
