Folk singer Mumba Yachi has been fined by the Lusaka Magistrate Court K10,000 for obtaining a Green National Registration card and passport when he was fully aware that his parents are Congolese.
When Yachi appeared before magistrate Kapulo, the State applied to withdraw count one which alleged that he entered Zambia through Mokambo Border Post and continued to stay unlawfully in the country without a valid permit or authority from the Immigration Department.
The State submitted that the application to withdraw the first count was pursuant to section 88 (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Magistrate Kapulo said the court had no objection to the application to withdraw the first count and discharged Yachi of the offence.
Magistrate Kapulo said the court had no objection to the application to withdraw the first count and discharged Yachi of the offence.
Yachi then took fresh plea in the second and third counts, admitting that he willfully gave false information to a public officer for the purposes of obtaining a green national registration card and a passport by claiming his parents were Zambian.
Magistrate Kapulo convicted him upon his own admission of guilt.
In mitigation, Yachi, through his lawyer, asked for leniency as he was a first offender and that he had not caused any trouble in Zambia.
Yachi said he had not been in conflict with the law.
He said he deeply regretted his actions and he was remorseful.
Yachi said he married a Zambian woman and had a daughter, both of whom depended on him for survival.
He said he had actively participated in the HeforSheCampaign, which was an integral part in the fight against GBV.
Yachi added that he had contributed to the growth of Zambian music, and that to err was human.
Passing sentence, the magistrate said she had considered what Yachi said in mitigation and fined him K4,000 in the second count and K6,000 in third count or in default serve six months simple imprisonment in each of the counts.
She said the total fine was K10,000 or in default serve 12 months simple imprisonment and ordered that the money be paid by November 16.
Magistrate Kapulo said Yachi could follow up the K5,000 cash bail he deposited in court after paying the fines.
Source Lt
