adminClara Mudefi
SELLING bushbuck meat without a licence earned a Mutare man a $300 fine or four months imprisonment after being hauled before the courts by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife on Monday.
Nasio Maringa (36) of Hancock Farm in Vumba was convicted on his own plea of guilty when he appeared before senior Mutare magistrate, Mrs Sekai Chiundura.
He was accused of contravening Section 59(2)(9) of the Parks and Wildlife Act, which stipulates the control of hunting, removal and sale of live animals and animal products. Maringa was expected to benefit $500 from the sale of the game meat. Prosecuting, Mr Cuthbert Bhosha, said on October 19, Maringa was found selling dried bushbuck meat in a white 20-litre bucket in the city centre without a licence.
The court heard that Maringa killed the buck and left the head, lungs, liver and the legs at home for his wife, Margret Jongwe, to cook. A witness, Memory Mutezo, alerted Department of Parks and Wildlife Management rangers who went on to investigate. The rangers made a follow-up at Maringa’s homestead and found the left over meat in a dish, leading to his arrest.
Asked by the magistrate why he had committed the offence, Maringa said: “I erred, Your Worship. I did not know that I was committing an offence because I finished off the bush buck after it had been struck by a passing vehicle.”
In sentencing him, Mrs Chiundura said: “You risk your life by going to jail due to the love of meat and money?”
She sentenced him to four months imprisonment, wholly suspended on condition that he did not commit a similar offence in the next five years. Maringa was ordered to pay $300 fine.
Online Reporter