The Chinsali High Court has sentenced a 21-year-old man from Chinsali District in Muchinga Province to 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for causing the death of a teacher who, together with others, had allegedly accused him of driving customers away from local bars.

Chinsali High Court Judge Willie Sinyangwe sentenced Shadrick Katongo of Muswema Village in Chinsali district upon a plea of guilty on one count of manslaughter contrary to section 199 of the penal code chapter 87 of the laws of Zambia.

Particulars of the offence are that between 20 to 24th March ,2025 in Chinsali while acting with others unknown did cause the death of Kosha Chama.

Facts before the court are that on March 20, 2025, around 22:00 hours, Christine Nambuma, the sister-in-law to the deceased, was awakened by noise while sleeping outside a bar at Mweye Market.

She found her brother-in-law, now deceased, involved in a fight with several people over allegations that he had caused other bars to lose customers.

The court heard that the sister-in-law attempted to stop the fight but was slapped by the convict, Katongo.

She then rushed to inform her sister, Memory Nambuma, the wife of the deceased.

At around 23:00 hours, Memory went to search for her husband at the market square in the company of her child but failed to find him.

She continued searching until 05:00 hours the following day.

During the search, it is believed that she went to Kalwala Secondary School, where the deceased was a teacher, to inquire about his whereabouts.

The school administration informed her that he had not reported for work and advised her to file a missing person report at Nambuluma Police Station.

Following the report, police launched a search and on March 24, 2025, discovered the body of the deceased, Chama, in the Lubu River.

Investigations into the matter were immediately instituted.

Further facts are that on 25 March 2025, a postmortem was conducted, revealing that Chama`s death was caused by strangulation and not drowning.

In mitigation, the convict Katongo through the defense counsel Jean Mumamba said the eight months that the Convict has been incarcerated has helped him to reflect on what he did and that he has deeply regretted his actions.

Ms Mumamba went on to say that, the convict has become an ambassador to young people as he preaches against violence if given a chance can help others in society.

“As you sentence him my lord, show mercy,” she prayed.

And in his ruling, Judge Willie Sinyangwe said he had taken note of what has been said in mitigation.

Judge Sinyangwe stated that his judgment was based on the fact that, instead of heeding reason and stopping the fight, Katongo continued to engage in the altercation, which ultimately led to Chama’s death, as confirmed by the postmortem results.

The High Court Judge said the case that Katongo committed was a serious one and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour with effect from the date of arrest in order to deter other would-be offenders