By Dickson Chivwati, Zodiak online

The Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate court has today sentenced three men Michael Kambalame 26, Umali Rashid 35, and Chikafa Dzuwa 41,to seven years imprisonment for vandalizing ESCOM equipment worth MK 22.2 million.

Sentencing of the three, comes barely seven days after their conviction.

The convicts unanimously cited family dependants as one of the mitigating factors when praying for court's leniency.

In disregard of the plea, state prosecutor Vincent Ntalawe, asked the court to slap the convicts with stiffer custodial sentences to deter other would be offenders.

The three were arrested in Dzalanyama Forest Reserve on 16th August 2023 while in possession of rolls of ESCOM power cables.