10 years for human trafficking

Chitipa Magistrate’s Court has sentenced  Felix Mkisi, 44, to 10 years imprisonment for human trafficking.

Police arrested  Mkisi at Iromba-Mbirima Roadblock in Chitipa  after being tipped off by well-wishers  that he was trafficking a 17 -year-old boy to Chunya in Tanzania to work in a tobacco field.

Mkisi pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness.

But police prosecutor Evans Mtepuka said trafficking is a serious offence because it puts the welfare of a person at stake. He asked the court to give Mkisi a stiff punishment.

First grade magistrate Julius Kalambo agreed with Mtepuka.

“I sentence Mkisi to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour to serve as a lesson to would-be offenders,” he said.

Mkisi comes from Mwanakuyera Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwaulambia in the district. n