Mwanza Magistrate Court has fined five people K90 000 each or in default serve 18 months imprisonment for cutting down indigenous trees in Thambani Forest in the District.
The five are Zebediya Lackson,28, Foster Ntonyo, 36, Yakobe Mose, 37, Limited Josephy, 27, and Martino Raphael, 18.
State prosecutor Maggie Banda told the court that forestry officers arrested the five on February 11 in the protected area while sawing the trees for timber.
The five pleaded guilty of the charges leveled against them. In her submission, Banda said trees play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change.
But the five men prayed for leniency, saying they felled the trees to produce planks for sale to ease the poverty burden.
However, first grade magistrate Smart Maluwasa argued that poverty was not an excuse for tampering with the forest reserves.
The five have since paid the fines.
All the convicts come from Senior Chief Nthache in the district.
Source: The Nation_February 24, 2021_Brian Wasili-Malawi News Agency