The First Grade Magistrate Court in Salima has acquitted Mofati Lupiya after finding him with no case to answer in a matter where he was accused to have contravened the Wildlife (Amendment) Act of 2020.
Lupiya was arrested around Thuma Forest Reserve on 8 December 2022 on suspicion that he entered into a protected area, conveyed dangerous weapons into a forest reserve, cut down trees in a forest reserve, and cleared land for cultivation in a forest reserve without authority or a permit.
At the time he went to court where the four charges were read to him, he sought legal aid, and was represented by Senior Legal Aid Advocate Clive Chiudzu.
Two state witnesses were paraded before the First Grade Magistrate Court as the accused pleaded not guilty to all counts.
It was alleged in court that when Lupiya was being arrested, he had with him a panga knife and two hoes. A map that a ranger (first state witness) brought to the court described Lupiya’s location to have been 1.5 Kilometers inside Thuma Forest Reserve.
The ranger further narrated that when he asked the accused to produce a license or permit allowing him to enter the area and cut down trees, he did not produce any. He was therefore arrested and his hoes and panga knife were ceased.
In response to the claims relating to the said offenses, Counsel Chiudzu wondered why the state was relying on assumptions as there was no evidence to indicate that the said space where Lupiya was found is indeed within a protected area. The map that the state brought to Court was not authored by the ranger himself, and Chiudzu argued that the ranger could not be competent to give testimony as to its authenticity and contents (under rules of evidence). The author ought to have tendered it in court. Similarly, the map was only partial and did not clearly show Thuma Forest Reserve’s entire boundaries.
It was also questioned in the case to answer submissions how the state arrived at a conclusion that the accused cut down trees in the said area as the farm did not initially belong to the accused and he had been there for less than a year.
In his ruling, His Worship First Grade Magistrate Anthony Banda agreed with Legal Aid Bureau that in this matter, no evidence was produced to ascertain that the said area was a protected area. The state failed to provide evidence of when Thuma was gazetted a reserve by the government which would indicate how big its boundaries are.
The court also found that there was no evidence to support claims by the state that legally aided Mofati Lupiya cut down 85 trees in the said forest.
With the absence of documents to show that Thuma is a protected area and failure by the state to substantiate the other claims, a prima facie case could not be raised, and Mofati Lupiya has been set free.
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