Online Reporter
Tsenulo Moyo
A 48-YEAR-OLD man from Gwayi Village in Nyamandlovu, Matabeleland North Province who was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for cultivating 12 plants of dagga in his garden, shocked the court by claiming he intended to use the illegal herb to relieve pain from his legs and back.
Farai Sibanda appeared before Bulawayo provincial magistrate Abdenico Ndebele, facing charges of unlawful cultivation of marijuana. He pleaded guilty to the offense.
Sibanda was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, with six months suspended on the condition that he does not commit a similar offence within five years.
While passing the sentence, Magistrate Ndebele stated that the sentence given to Sibanda should protect society, especially young boys from Nyamandlovu who might be buying marijuana from individuals like Sibanda.
Ndebele emphasised that 12 marijuana plants were excessive for medicinal purposes.
In his defence, Sibanda claimed that he used marijuana for medicinal purposes to alleviate pain in his legs and back.
“I was trying to heal myself from the pain by using marijuana to compress my legs and back. I wanted to heal myself so that I could work properly to provide for my children,” he said.
“My father is the one who told me marijuana could be used to heal the pain in my legs and back, seeing that I was suffering,” Sibanda said.
In mitigation, he pleaded for a lesser sentence, stating that he has three children and four chickens to care for.
The court heard that on 21 February 2025, at around 8pm, a member of the neighbourhood watch committee, Nkosikhona Dube, received a tip-off that Sibanda was cultivating dagga in his garden. Dube, accompanied by Andrew Ncube, proceeded to Sibanda’s homestead and found 12 marijuana plants in his garden.
The 12 cultivated marijuana plants were said to have an average height of 180 centimetres and a street value of US$500.
Sibanda was arrested at the scene for cultivating marijuana without a license or permit.
derick.khumalo