Malawi court jails woman six years for importing 118 kg of cannabis
A First Grade Magistrate's Court in Mwanza sentenced Bertha Kampeza, 40, to six years' imprisonment with hard labour for importing and possessing 118 kg of cannabis without a permit. Officers found seven sealed bags in a truck from South Africa at Mwanza Border on 31 March 2026; she pleaded guilty.
A First Grade Magistrate’s Court in Mwanza convicted Bertha Kampeza, 40, of importing and possessing 118 kg of cannabis without a permit and sentenced her to six years’ imprisonment with hard labour, Face of Malawi reported.[1]
State prosecutor Inspector Jane Juma told the court that on 31 March 2026 drug enforcement officers at Mwanza Border received a tip-off about a truck from South Africa suspected of carrying cannabis.[1]Officers working with Malawi Revenue Authority officials searched the truck and found seven sealed bags of cannabis sativa.[1]Kampeza admitted the bags were hers and was arrested.[1]
The substance was sent to Bvumbwe Research Station, where it was confirmed as Indian hemp weighing 118 kg.[1]Kampeza pleaded guilty when she appeared before First Grade Magistrate Gladstone Chilundu, who upheld the state’s submissions and imposed the six-year term.[1]
Kampeza comes from Namiwa Village under Traditional Authority Kapichi in Thyolo District.[1]
Case data
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Police in Dedza arrested 46-year-old Mayamiko Empraim on suspicion of supplying chamba to three pupils aged 13 to 15 at Kapalamula Primary School. He was in custody and expected to face a charge of possessing cannabis sativa after a school outreach programme led to the report.
Police arrested four people aged 17 to 27 during a sweeping exercise in Balaka Township on 31 October 2026 for possessing cannabis sativa without a licence. Two were found with loose cannabis and 15 twists in a plastic lid; two with loose cannabis in glass bottles and two packets of hemp rolling papers. All four, from Traditional Authority Nsamala, will appear in court.
The Chitipa First Grade Magistrate's Court convicted 45-year-old George Mulungu of cultivating and possessing 84.6 kg of cannabis without a licence, fining him K1 million or 12 months' hard labour in default. Arrested at his Chisembe home on 17 June 2026, he pleaded leniency as a first offender; the court ordered the cannabis burned.
A magistrate's court in Limbe, Blantyre, sentenced 19-year-old Mussa John to eight years with hard labour in June 2022 for possessing 134 kg of Indian hemp, the local name for cannabis. The High Court in Blantyre reduced the sentence to three years on 1 September 2022, after the case became the focus of nationwide protests against selective justice.
