77-YEAR-OLD man of Luanshya will spend the next 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of defiling and impregnating his 14-year-old granddaughter. Godwin Mumba was charged with the offence of defilement of a girl under the age of 16.
The court heard that Mumba defiled his grandchild each time he went to the bush with her to look for herbs.
The offence took place between 2013 and 2017 in Luanshya.

Mumba denied the offence but instead told the court that his grandchild was forced by the police to falsely accuse him. He was convicted by the Luanshya Magistrate Court after trial and later committed to the High Court for sentencing.And when the matter came up yesterday for sentencing,  Ndola High Court judge Mary Mulanda said after perusal of the record of proceedings, it was not in dispute that the pregnancy, in the absence of any evidence of artificial insemination, is conclusive proof that the girl had sex with a man.

In her testimony, the girl told the court that she had sex with her grandfather from 2013 to 2017. She said she conceived as a result of sexual encounters she had with him. The victim narrated that her grandfather had sex with her each time she escorted him to go into the bush to look for herbs.

In defence, Mumba denied ever impregnating her. He said he could not impregnate any woman as he suffered from erectile dysfunction following a road traffic accident. “In the absence information as to when the convict had the same accident from which he developed his erectile dysfunction, the trial court was entitled to disbelieve his evidence,” Justice Mulanda said. Justice Mulanda also agreed with the finding of the trial court that there was no motive on the part of the victim to implicate her own grandfather.

“In his defence, he said it was the police who told the victim to falsely accuse him, this reasoning in my view flies in the teeth of logic. I do not see why the police could influence her to accuse him when there is evidence that it was him who raised her from the time she was four,” she said.
In mitigation, Mumba’s lawyer, Emmanuel Sichone, asked for a minimum sentence as his client was a first offender and was remorseful for his actions.

But Justice Mulanda condemned Mumba’s behaviour, stating that he needs to protect the child instead of taking advantage of her.
“The fact that you are 77 and a guardian, you were supposed to protect the child. I sentence you to 20 years impriso