Prisoner exchange proposed

Sat, 03 Jun 2017 12:38:45 +0000

By CHINTU MALAMBO

 WE will engage the authorities, on a possible exchange of Zambians who are serving jail sentences in South Africa so that they complete their sentence in Zambia, Zambian’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwamba has disclosed.

Mr Mwamba disclosed that there were 27 Zambian nationals are serving different jail sentences in South Africa’s correctional services.

In a statement released to the Daily Nation, Mr Mwamba said that out of the 27, 15 had already been convicted and were serving various sentences while 12 Zambians were remanded in different prisons across the country, awaiting conclusion of their court cases.

This came to light after the Mission engaged the Department of International Relations and Corporation of the Republic of South Africa (DIRCO), on the status of Zambian Nationals who were in conflict with the law in the country.

“Among the prisoners is Peter Saveka, 34, holder of NRC 201632166, who is serving a life sentence after being convicted of murder. Thanbo Sadik, 45, NRC number 2132292994 and Christopher Ngando, 32, NRC 216393777 all convicted of Rape cases and serving jail terms ranging from 7 to 20 years.

“Loius Banda, 28, NRC 213289710 was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for attempting murder,” he said.

He added that those awaiting conclusion of their trials included, Erick Mulanduba, 28, Patricia Kazembe, 45, Watson Kahona, 32, Daniel Phiri, 37, Andrew Nawa, 33, Njovu, 40, and 30-year-old Joseph Mwape Phiri.

Mr Mwamba advised the Zambian community living in South Africa to refrain from activities that would land them in conflict with the law.

However, he said that he was proud that an estimated number of 11,000 Zambians that lived in South Africa had maintained good behaviour and were law abiding citizens.

He urged them to continue being good citizens, adding that they were representing Zambia abroad.

Mr Mwamba further called on the families of those that were serving jail sentences in South Africa to come forward to identify those that they were related to.