Mombasa: 21-year-old confesses that he planted bhang for personal use

A man who pleaded guilty to charges of planting bhang outside his house informed the court that the drug was for his personal use.

While appearing before Mombasa Chief magistrate Martha Mutuku, Collins Mutana told the magistrate that the roll of bhang he was caught with at the time of his arrest was for his personal use and not for sale.

He additionally stated that the bhang growing outside of his house was a result of the seeds he threw away.

“Madam unajua bhangi huwa huvuti yote, kuna sehemu hutupwa kama unatayarisha bangi, sasa hizo zenye nilitupa ni mbegu ya bangi na kwa vile ulikuwa wakati wa short rains zilimea tu,”he told th court.

This loosely translates to: “Your honour, as one prepares to smoke bhang, there are parts of the drug that are usually thrown away, for instance, the seeds. When I threw the seeds there were short rains and that’s how they grew,”

In his mitigation, he further pleaded with the court to forgive him since he was a casual labourer who worked on construction sites and needed steam from the drug to enable him to work.

“I do a lot of tedious work and to be able to work and sleep l have to smoke bhang for some energy,” he added.

The magistrate who seemed surprised by his confession enquired from the suspect why he did not uproot the bhang that had begun growing outside his compound.

“I came to realise the plants growing outside my house were bhang at the time of arrest,” he told the court.

The court ordered the matter to be mentioned on December 1 to allow the probation office to table a report in court to enable the court to reach its decision.

The charges were that the suspect was found in possession of narcotic drugs at Mataa ya Ndege area in Jomvu sub-county on July 22.

The narcotics were; one roll of bhang and seven cut plants of bhang worth Kshs650.