The man in charge of floggings at Phase IV Customary Court in Francistown will have left work with a tired arm on Thursday to go with the sore bottoms he dished out after the Kgosi sentenced eight Zimbabwean men to four strokes each.
Foreigners: Professor Phiri, Givemore Mpofu, Phiri Ayanda, Michael Sihumbe, Lovemore Moyo, Ndlovu Khumbulani, Ndlovu Muthandazo and Clever Chuma all admitted to being in Botswana illegally.
The border jumpers were busted by the boys in blue in a sweep-up of the second city from 5 – 7th September, with the arrests taking place in Blocks 2, 7 and 8.
Begging for leniency, Phiri told court he was a breadwinner and had come to Botswana to work so he can take care of his family.
“We are very poor in our family so I decided to come here so I can look for piece jobs,” added Ayanda.
The other six also pleaded with the presiding Chief, Kgosi Ganni Moses to tamper justice with mercy, explaining they have children to look after back home in Zim.
Their sob stories did the trick as, instead of a jail sentence, Moses, ordered that all eight men receive ‘four of the best’ and be whipped on their bare buttocks.
“Entering the country illegally is a serious offence that one can be taken to prison for years. However, since the accused persons are first offenders they’ll be flogged,” he ruled.
Nursing sore bums, the eight men were returned to Zimbabwe the following day.
