Wandale convicted, sentencing set for Nov 8
The Blantyre Magistrate’s Court yesterday (Thursday) convicted People’s Land Organisation (PLO) leader Vincent Wandale on three counts of conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour, unauthorised use of land and criminal trespass.
Presiding over the case, Senior Resident Magistrate Thokozani Soko has since set Tuesday, November 8 for sentencing.
But Wandale told reporters outside the court he will appeal the case.
Said Wandale: “This issue will not end here, we will be making an appeal; I maintain my stand that we are a sovereign State and have freehold of all land belonging to United States of Thyolo and Mulanje [Must]. I do not care whether the court recognises it or not. We will also be taking this issue to the International Criminal Court [ICC].”
Reacting to the judgement, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Member of Parliament for Mulanje South Bon Kalindo, who is also leader and founder for Citizens for the Protection of Mulanje (CPM), described the verdict as sad.
“To me it is really a very sad development considering that Wandale is fighting for a noble cause. But since the issue is still in court, let me comment much after the sentencing,” he said.
However, Senior Chief Ngolongoliwa of Thyolo hailed the judgement, saying it will deter others from taking the law into their own hands.
Said Ngolongoliwa: “Wandale is a nobody, he is not even from any chieftaincy blood line. I wonder where he got the power to mobilise people to start sharing other peoples’ land among themselves. I am very happy with the judgement as it will promote adherence to the rule of law.”
Wandale’s co-accused, Tendai Nsikita, has been acquitted of the same charges after the court found that he had no any intention to benefit from the act at Conforzi, but was sent there by his organisation which advocates human rights issues.
Making her judgement, Soko said she convicted Wandale on all three counts after she found that he aided, abetted and encouraged people to encroach Conforzi Tea Estate as shown in the official notice presented in the court regarding the planned encroachment which the people ‘mistakenly’ believe belongs to their forefathers.
She said the accused person failed to justify his bonafide ownership to the said land which could have seen the passing of the land from one generation to another. She added that it was impossible for the people to be making negotiations to have the said land if it was theirs.
Soko further said the fact that other accused persons pleaded guilty to the charges means that the land belonged to Conforzi. She also said Wandale failed to follow proper channels to resolve land issues in the district.
The State, through Southern Region Prosecuting Officer David Mtete, has since requested for a stiffer sentence, “particularly an immediate custodial sentence, even though he is a first offender, taking into consideration that it was an organised crime, and that the conduct of the accused could have led to the encroachment of all tea estates in the district, thereby affecting the economy of the country.”
Mtete said Wandale also wasted court time and resources in the case by pleading not guilty.
But making his submissions, defence lawyer Michael Goba Chipeta requested that Wandale be given a suspended sentence considering the context of the case.
He said his client has been trying to solve a huge land problem in Thyolo which government itself is failing to address.
Wandale was arrested on September 3 in Lilongwe in connection to an incident that happened on September 1 at Conforzi Tea Estate where hundreds of villagers invaded the estate and started sharing land for permanent settlement and cultivation. They claimed the land belonged to their forefathers.
