THE Lusaka High Court sentenced four men from Chirundu to 20 years in prison with hard labor for unauthorized possession of defense force uniforms.

Lusaka High Court Judge Wilfred Muma said the four deserved to be punished in order to protect the community from deception.

He said the four men decided to wear the Defense Force uniforms when they were not legitimate officers, thus deceiving innocent people into believing they were soldiers.

In this case, Barton Nkhoma, Tapiwa Kambole, Isaac Mutena and Misheck Muluwe aged 22 to 27 faced a charge of unauthorized possession of defense uniforms.

The four men are said to have had on April 7, 2019 in Chirundu, jointly and while acting together, in their possession of the uniforms of the Zambian defense forces without legal authorization.

When the case was brought before Judge Muma, the four stated in mitigation through their lawyer that they were first offenders entitled to leniency from the court.

They said they were remorseful and regretted their criminal actions.

The four convicts pleaded with the court to show maximum leniency when pronouncing the sentence.

But in handing down the sentence, Judge Muma said the offense was serious and the four deserved to be punished in order to protect the community from deception.

He said the four men decided to wear the defense force uniform when they were not legitimate officers, thus deceiving innocent people into believing they were soldiers.

Judge Muma said if the four wanted to be soldiers or police, they would have applied to become one.

“If we encourage everyone to wear army uniform on the streets, are we going to have order and peace in this country? You deserve to be punished so that we protect the community from deception. I therefore sentence you to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor as of November 14, 2019, ”Judge Muma said.