Seven charcoal sellers who were found with 13 bags of charcoal have been ordered by a court in Machinga district to pay a fine of K100, 000 each or serve 12 months in prison.

The seven were caught after the department of forestry and the police conducted an operation within the protected areas in Mangochi district, according to the district’s police publicist Dave Sulumba.

A total of 13 bags were found during the operation.

Sulumba identified two of the suspects as Umali Chinthenga, 27, and Madalitso Milazi, 25 who were charged with possession of charcoal without permission contrary to section 68 of the forest act.

After they pleaded guilty in court, the state prosecutor Mwasima Nkhoma advised the court to hand the seven convicts a stiff punishment saying such cases are common in the district and they result to climate change.

The convicts pleaded for leniency saying they are involved in charcoal business because of poverty and that they are bread winners in their families.

Passing the judgment, Second Grade Magistrate Maxwell Boazi concurred with the state and ordered the seven to pay a fine of K100, 000 each or serve 12 months in prison.