The Lundazi Subordinate Court has sentenced a 44-year-old man to five years imprisonment with hard labour for unlawful possession of a Leopard skin.
Ministry of Tourism and Arts Public Relations Officer, Sakabilo Kalembwe confirmed the development in a press statement issued to ZANIS in Lusaka today.
Mr. Kalembwe said Derrick Nyirenda was charged with unlawful possession of the prescribed trophy contrary to section 130(2) (a) of the ZWA No. 14 of 2015, after he was arrested in September this year by officers from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW).
He said Zambia is among few countries that have viable populations of leopards which are being depleted at an alarming rate due to illegal poaching and trafficking.
Mr. Kalembwe further disclosed that according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature – IUCN Red List, global leopard populations have declined by 50 percent over the past 20 years.
He said it is important that wildlife criminals are sternly punished for depriving future generations of Zambia from enjoying the cultural, environmental and economic development opportunities presented by wildlife.
This is unfair. A stern warning should have been enough. This is a burdern to the people. Realise that villager at once.
Okay, leopards aside now. Would it be unfair to call upon the President to constitute a commission of inquiry to determine how the toll gate in Ndola cost 4.3 million dollars. Then we can have a breakdown of the cost and understand. I passed through that structure and I am at pains to understand. Anybody sober minded from the PF can respond, definitely not Sunday Chanda. I need intellectual debate here
What if the leopard skin was inheritance from his father? I personally knew people who had leopard, lion, zebra and giraffe skins they had inherited from their forefathers. What crime is their when one possesses an heirloom, should they simply surrender it because it’s in their possession? The law is unfair on this one.
The vice president owns a couple of ivory bungles and at no time has she been arrested for possessing them because they know that the bungles are inherited.
Reminds me of story when our fiercely fierce freedom fighter of our time; the fearless and former vice President the late Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe then was arrested for the same charge. Once brought to court and admitted to the charge, he asked the then mudzungu Magistrate and said; “bushe iwe bwana iyinama naipeye nokufundako impapa bushe yali ninama yobe? Bushe walitala aufyalapo insofu iwe?”
The rest of the story and response from the gallery – you can only imagine…
We should quickly reform the legal system in Zambia. Don’t be surprised by the sentence for we’re still using colonial legal system left in place by the British.
The colonial era gave stiffer punishment to the crimes prevalent among the blacks and light sentences to crimes likely to be committed by muzungus.
Poaching was considered a very heinous crime compared to causing bodily harm to bwana’s servant.
I agree in reforming the colonial sentencing acts if we can call them that.. we hear of people being sentenced for a long time for stealing a chicken or cooking pots.. these can do with community service as reason is usually hunger and poverty related…
I would rather arrest those corrupt people in government
Give the man a suspended sentence of 5 years or some community service. Why are we still holding on to colonial rules. Is the magistrate saying all those animal skins people use in traditional ceremonies are legal. Lets have a way to help others especially first time offenders and we’ll decongest our prisons.