A 38-year old driver Francis Ntofu has been fined K400,000.00 in default serve 2 years imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) for causing death by reckless or negligent driving which contravenes section 126(4C) of the Road Traffic Act.

State prosecutor, Inspector Aufi Ali of Lumbadzi Police Station told the court that Ntofu in the morning hours of July 11, 2022 while driving motor vehicle registration number KU 6232 Scania lorry at Lumbadzi trading centre hit a pedal cyclist Boniface Mtonga, 45 (now deceased) of Gamba village in Traditional authority Mnthalire in Chitipa, who was pronounced dead upon arrival at Kamuzu Central Hospital after sustaining severe head injuries.

In court, the driver pleaded guilty to the charge levelled against him and asked for a lenient non-custodial sentence, citing that he is breadwinner to his family with three children and cares for his elderly grandmother.

Inspector Ali told the presiding Magistrate Thomson Midiasi that the driver deserves stiffer sentence because he was driving recklessly at the trading centre, a behavior which has made the bereaved family to be deprived of their loved one. Ali further said cases of causing death are common in Lumbadzi.

Midiasi concurred with state prosecutor Ali and then ordered the convict to pay a fine of K400, 000.00 or in default 2 years IHL to act as a lesson to other would be- offenders.

Meanwhile, the driver has already paid the fine to escape the jail term and money amounting to K300, 000.00 will be given to the bereaved family as compensation.

Francis Ntofu comes from Nyang’a village in Traditional authority Mbenje in Nsanje district.