Dalisoul says drink-driving conviction has changed him

Musician Madalitso Phiri, popularly known as Dalisoul Mwana Wamu Komboni, has told the Lusaka Magistrate’s Court that his drink-driving conviction has changed him and inspired him to become an ambassador for road safety after being fined K9,700 for five traffic offences.

Standing before the court, the 41-year-old musician expressed remorse, saying he had learnt a hard lesson from the incident and would use his experience to educate the public about the dangers of reckless and impaired driving.

His plea for leniency came after the court convicted him, on his own admission, of dangerous driving, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving an unlicensed motor vehicle, driving without a valid roadworthiness test certificate and using an uninsured motor vehicle.

The offences arose from an incident on April 27, 2026, when Phiri drove his Nissan March along Mosi-O-Tunya Road in Lusaka.

According to the prosecution, he drove in a manner that endangered other road users before colliding with a Presidential Escort motorcycle, registration number ZP 3050.

Investigations further established that Phiri was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the collision. The vehicle he was driving also had no valid road licence, roadworthiness test certificate or insurance, contrary to the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002.

The court fined him K3,000 for dangerous driving, with a default sentence of three months’ imprisonment, and K5,000 for driving under the influence of alcohol, with a default sentence of four months’ imprisonment.

He was further fined K800 for driving an unlicensed motor vehicle, K200 for driving without a valid roadworthiness test certificate and K700 for using an uninsured motor vehicle. Failure to pay the fines would attract the respective custodial sentences.

In total, Phiri was ordered to pay K9,700 or serve the default prison terms imposed by the court.

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