A TEACHER in Kawambwa who pruned branches of mango trees to allow sunlight to reach his garden has been fined K250 plus five chickens by the village headman. Joseph Chiswa, a teacher at Lengwe Primary School in Kawambwa, was fined by headman Lengwe. But Mr Chiswa feels it is unfair for him to pay the fine. He explained that he rents a house in the village, and farms on a piece of land near his house, but that the garden is surrounded by mango trees which shield the sunlight from reaching his crops.

Mr Chiswa, therefore, decided to cut off some branches so that the crops could be exposed to sunlight, but never thought he would be in trouble for doing so. “Actually the headman followed me to the school over the pruning of the mango trees. We went on the ground and I explained why I had to cut the mango trees,” he said. Mr Chiswa said he apologised for cutting the mango trees but the headman told him to pay K50. He said when he asked him why he should pay the K50 when he had apologised, the headman got upset and increased the fine to K250.

The school teacher said he is willing to pay the fine, but he is also now considering shifting from the village. “I am leaving this village. I will be staying in town, which is about 30 kilometres from here. I will only be coming here to teach,” he said. And Chief Munkanta of the Chishinga people said he is surprised to hear that Mr Chiswa was fined for merely pruning a tree.

The chief said he would summon the headman to counsel him on how he should work with the people in his village. “At first I was told the teacher cut all the trees but what I am getting is that he only cut the branches on the trees, so why should he be fined?” he asked. Sub-chief Kabila on Thursday summoned Mr Chiswa to his chiefdom to hear his side of the story. The sub-chief said Mr Chiswa did not commit any crime to warrant the payment of the fine. “The teacher was here but from what he explained and what I established, there is no problem there… the two could have just resolved their issues without the payment of fines,” he said