Motswana Dies In Zambian Prison
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday November 16, 2021 06:00
The trio was arrested by a team of undercover Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers who were tipped off by an unnamed informant in early May 2021. One of the arrested Batswana men has since died while in police custody.
Zambian, Guyson Dindi is the first accused while the second and third accused are Muyenga Muyenga and Lemogang Salang, both from Botswana.
Muyenga has since died while awaiting trial. DEC, a law enforcement agency with a mandate to prevent and control illegal cultivation, production, trafficking and abuse of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and money laundering activities, made their arrest. The agency has since the first quarter of 2021 seized $150,900 of counterfeit notes, a prevalent offence in Zambia.
“The second accused died of typhoid while in custody before the prosecution closed its case. After the prosecution closed its case, the three were put on their defence after being found with a case to answer. They gave their defence on the 9th of November 2021. Both elected to give sworn evidence and called no witnesses. Their judgement is set to be delivered on the 23rd of November 2021,” a Lusaka High Court source said.
DEC spokesperson, Mathias Kamanga had since confirmed the matter. “Indeed one of the accused persons died. The trial has finished. The accused persons were found with a case to answer. They have since given their defence and the case will come up for judgement,” he said.
Quizzed whether the Botswana government was made aware of the matter, Kamanga said the information can only be shared by the Zambian government to their Botswana counterparts.
Printing of counterfeit notes is illegal and is an offence punishable by law. In Zambia, a conviction for the offence carries up to seven years in prison and a fine. The maximum penalty for the offence is life imprisonment.
The Botswana High Commission in Zambia and the Zambian High Commission were yet to respond to enquiries at press time. The Monitor wanted to establish whether Botswana authorities were aware of the case and the death of Muyenga. The enquiries were also to establish circumstances leading to the death of one of the suspects and as to whether his body had been repatriated.