Forgery convict denied bail

THE Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has dismissed a bail pending appeal application by a 64-year-old businessman who has been sentenced to six years imprisonment with hard labour for forgery. Magistrate Nthandose Chabala yesterday dismissed Morgan Phiri’s application on grounds that there were no exceptional circumstances to grant the convict bail pending appeal to the High Court. “It is important to bear in mind that the court is dealing with a convict and exceptional circumstances must be disclosed. There are no exceptional circumstances. In as much as I had wanted to use my discretion to grant the applicant bail, I feel constrained because there are no special circumstances to warrant me to grant the applicant bail. “I am inclined to decline to grant the applicant bail and I hereby deny to grant the applicant bail,” Ms. Chabala said. Phiri has been jointly jailed with Mary Moyo for forging a title deed the duo attempted to use to sell another person’s farm at K700, 000. They were trapped by a relative of the deceased farm owner and the potential buyers of Somalia origin after they were told to go and collect K350, 000 down payment at a named lodge in Kabulonga. In the same court, a bricklayer of Chazanga compound in Lusaka has pleaded guilty to one count of stealing two cell phones valued at K1, 000 both. Asked by the court how he entered complainant McLoud Mbewe’s house around 10:00 hours, Peter Mwamba, the 23-year-old accused person, said he entered through an open door. Mwamba further told the court that he wanted to use the phones to help himself. The case has been adjourned to next Wednesday for facts and sentencing while Mwamba is remanded in custody.