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| National |
| Mpasu gets 7 year sentence |
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by
Juliet Chimwaga, 10 December 2004
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08:31:13
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Joseph Mpasu, son to former cabinet minister Sam Mpasu, was on Thursday sentenced to seven years imprisonment for armed robbery.
Mpasu was being tried alongside Clive Macholowe and Yusuf Sanudi for an armed robbery and murder of a police officer in 1997 at Blantyre District Education Office where they allegedly got away with cash amounting to K574,311 ($5,317) meant for teachers’ salaries.
However, last week the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Ishmael Wadi said Mpasu would not be tried for murder because he pleaded guilty to armed robbery charges and that the state would not offer evidence for the charge of murder.
Mpasu, who was arrested in 2000 and has already served four years, will serve three more years according to his lawyer, Chifundo Mgwira.
Mpasu admitted to the charge and agreed to the DPP’s disclosure of the facts of the offence that he was involved in hiring a Toyota Corolla to carry out the robbery but that he was left behind by his colleagues because the vehicle was full.
The DPP tendered an AK 47 rifle as part of evidence which, he said, were found buried in Sanudi’s backyard after they were used in the crime.
Sanudi is unwell and in hospital while Macholowe is still under police custody.
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