Africa-Press – Tanzania. A RESIDENT of Itilima District in Simiyu Region, Masaka Maduhu, is to remain behind bars for 20 years for being found in possession of 118.68 kilogrammes of narcotic drugs, namely cannabis sativa, commonly known as bhang.
This follows a decision of the High Court’s Corruption and Economic Crime Divi- sion, Shinyanga Sub-Registry to convict Maduhu, accused person, of one count of trafficking in the narcotic drugs.
Judge Elinaza Luvanda ruled against the accused person after holding that the prosecution proved the economic case beyond reasonable doubt having taken into consideration the evidence tendered by witnesses.
Before imposing such a sentence, the prosecution had asked the court to have the accused person given seven sentences as per the law to serve as a lesson to other youths who fail to do legal works; instead focus on shortcut success and such sentence should deter others who are intending to do similar acts.
They submitted that the act of being found in possession of bhang is an act which affect national manpower especially youths who are victim of narcotic drugs, and cause the national to have many dependents who most of them are mentally ill as per a report of the chemist.
On the other side, the counsel for the accused had pleaded for lenient sentence, submitting that the accused person was still young who could contribute manpower to develop the national and family economy.
He submitted that the accused person has dependents, a child and wife who depend on him and that he had been in custody for almost three years, which to them served a lot of lessons to him. According to the counsel, the accused person has no criminal records in particular narcotic drugs.
After considering the submissions by both parties, the judge was of the view that the accused persons deserved a lenient sentence and to be accommodated under Tanzania Sentencing Manual for Judicial Officers, which stipulate a minimum of twenty years and maximum of thirty years to the offender.
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