Lilongwe, April 15: Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate Paul Chiotcha on Monday sentenced Rasfold Gogoda, the bogus doctor who was arrested at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe to 7 years in jail.
Confirming the sentence, Lilongwe Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Inspector Kingsley Dandaula said Gogoda denied the charges but was found guilty after the State had paraded its witnesses in court.
“When the case started Gogoda denied the charges but after the State paraded its witnesses he was found guilty on two counts, first for personating a public officer and for theft of medical instruments and drugs meant only for theatre use and also various items such as cell phones, cameras, laptops and dongles,” said Dandaula.
In his mitigation Gogoda asked the court to be lenient with him since he looks after his wife and a sick child.
However, State Prosecutor Superintendent Damiano Kaputa told the court that Gogoda deserved a stiffer sentence because he was putting peoples’ lives at risk.
The State Prosecutor also said Gogoda was not a first offender and revealed that he was arrested before and was given a punishment of 320 hours of community service at Chipasula secondary School in Lilongwe.
Senior Resident Magistrate Chiotcha then sentenced Gogoda to six (6) years on the first count for personating a public officer contrary to section 99(b) of the penal code and one (1) year on the second count for theft contrary to section … of the penal code.
Gogoda, 26, hails from Simon village, Traditional Authority Simon in Neno district; he was arrested at KCH in Lilongwe on 3 February 2015 after a patient tipped a guardian that he was not a medical personnel.
