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A 46 year old Zambian woman recently sentenced to five years imprisonment in Ethiopia for trafficking in narcotic drugs has died.
Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Ethiopia, Charge d’ Affaires, Trevor Sichombo, confirmed that Ms. Penelope Munge of Itawa Ndola died on Sunday, 24th July 2022 after suffering from a partial stroke.
He said Ms. Munge was admitted to Addis Ababa Burn Emergency Trauma Hospital in the first week of July but was later discharged and readmitted to Kality Prison clinic where she later succumbed to the stroke on Sunday.
Mr. Sichombo said the family of Ms. Munge has since been informed of her untimely death and is already in Ethiopia making efforts to repatriate her remains back to Zambia.
Ms. Munge was sentenced to
five years imprisonment on 21st June 2022 for being in possession of 2.2 kg of Cocaine, which was implanted in her body.
In her mitigation, Ms. Munge had pleaded for leniency, saying she was a first offender and was responsible for taking care of her children because she was a divorcee.
She had stated that she had a chronic illness that needed consistent medical attention.
But in passing judgment, the Ethiopian High Court observed that cases of drug trafficking had become common and were posing a danger to society hence the need to impose custodial sentences on offenders to deter others from committing the crime.
This is contained in a statement issued by Inutu Mwanza, First Secretary-Press and Tourism at the Zambian Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
