51-year-old man jailed 14 years for defilement

Sadzi Mobile Court in Zomba has sentenced Christopher Kanongola, 51, to 14 years imprisonment for abducting and defiling a 13-year-old Standard Five pupil in the district.

The court heard that the accused, who was a security guard at Police Primary School, had been defiling the girl in the school’s kitchen.

The court further heard that on September 13 2021, the accused invited the girl to his house in Sadzi where he also defiled her.

In a statement presented in court, Zomba Police Station Victim Support Unit coordinator Rose Chiwaya said when people saw the girl entering the accused’s house and taking long to come out, they surrounded the house and called the police for action.

“When the police entered the house and arrested him, he confessed to have given the girl K400 and revealed that he had been defiling her several times,” she said.

In mitigation, Kanongola asked for leniency, saying he was the first offender.

In his judgement, Zomba senior resident magistrate Jones Masula said being a security guard, Kanongola was entrusted with the responsibility of protecting property and human beings but he ignored such responsibilities.

“The judgement will be sent to the High Court where upon its confirmation, the sentence could be increased or not,” he said.

Community members Deborah Phiri and Willard Magombo hailed the sentence, saying it will deter would-be offenders.

“Lessons of breaking the law have been learnt by seeing one of our community members being sentenced and taken to jail,” said Phiri.

Reacting to the sentence, Zomba District Council gender officer Rupeth Kamtsendero said the council is pushing for mobile courts to save children, especially at a time the world is observing 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.