Two men who torched ‘witches’ houses in Chitipa jailed for 32 years

The Chitipa Magistrate Court has  sentenced two men Moses Msukwa, 20, and Flackson Masebo, 19, to 32 years imprisonment with hard labour each for torching four houses whose owners they suspected are witches.

According to prosecutor Blackson Sichali the two torched the houses of Esther Mushani and Mayinala Mwenechanya and two others – both in the age bracket of between 65 and 70 – in December last year.

Sichali added that property worth over half a million kwacha was lost in the inferno.

In his judgment, senior resident magistrate Julius Kalambo fervently condemned the behavior of the two before sentencing them to 32 year jail terms each on all the four counts for which they were found guilty.

“The punishment has been given to act as a lesson to would be offenders,” said Kalambo.

Both Msukwa and Masebo hail from Mwandima Village, Traditional Authority Mwenemisuku in Chitipa district.