EMMANUEL MWAMBA HAS MISGUIDED HIMSELF ON THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 18 (5) ON THE CASE OF JAY JAY BANDA.
June 22nd, 2024
LUSAKA – It has never been my thing to comment on matters that are in court because i personally have respect for the rule of law and independence of the judiciary.
However, I’m compelled to comment on the trending case of Petauke Member of Parliament Emmanuel Banda who has been charged and appeared in the Chipata Magistrate Court on charges of aggravated robbery and attempted murder.
I was taken aback when i read some submission from my elder brother in politics and media profession, Emmanuel Mwamba on the Banda case titled: The Fresh Charges Against Hon. Emmanuel JJ Banda are illegal and Unconstitutional”
My interest is centered on his submission and interpretation of Article 18(5) of the Constitution of Zambia as amended in 2016 which he rightly quotes:
(5)”No person who shows that he has been tried by a competent court for a criminal offence and either convicted or acquitted shall again be tried for that offence or for any other criminal offence of which he could have been convicted at the trial for that offence, except upon the order of a superior court in the course of appeal or review proceedings relating to the conviction or acquittal.”
In my view, Emmanuel Mwamba is misguiding himself on the provision of Art 18(5).
Can Emmanuel Mwamba competently say his namesake Emmanuel Banda was charged and convicted of aggravated Robbery and/or attempted murder in his initial charge, trial and conviction?
The whole world is aware and rightly so that Jay Jay was charged, tried and convicted of assault not attempted Murder or Aggravated Robbery!
Was the police right and justified to charge Banda with a misdemeanor when the crime committed was a felon back in 2015? My little law knowledge tells me the police then misbehaved and danced to the whims of political authority.
Did the victim and my fellow scribe Peter Sukwa receive justice in that case, definitely the answer is no because as can be noted in the fresh indictments, the culprits used threats and obviously weapons to induce fear in the victim before stealing the mentioned items.
How then did the police decide to use a lesser charge of assault and not aggravated robbery which resulted into a fine or 6 months imprisonment in default still beats my little understanding of criminal law.
It was therefore just proper that the victim sought for the review of his case 9 years later knowing that criminal matters are never time bound and the right charge has finally been placed on the suspect.
So, clearly Emmanuel Mwamba has misguided himself on the spirit and letter of art 18(5).
He can go back to both the JJ case and to the law and he will realise that the accused is facing a totally new criminal offence and not connected to the previous charge albeit similar facts.
We also await to see how the case of the break in and assault of a police officer at Lusaka Central police station will be reviewed.
Again, the accused was charged with a misdemeanor leading to Judge Muma giving him a fine of K150 or 3 months imprisonment in default.
We can say Emmanuel Banda was a lucky guy but it seems Lady Justice has stretched her arm on him this time and there is no escaping.
Cheelo Katambo
Deputy Media Director UPND
EM’s specialisation is to mislead the people thinking that all of us are as foolish as himself
Despite his loud mouth and misleading of ECL which led to a shocking defeat of the latter, I can’t understand why the Defunct TuPF crimminals have allowed him to continue churning out nonsense
Mwamba,’s character is well known he has the understanding of these issues but he is always fast to pull things in his own desired way.I think when he was young he could have been a victim of beatings from his friends in the neighborhood.Just see his talks on load shading he knows too well on climate change but he deliberately bends things tilting or changing goal position and blames HH.HH does not stay in heaven or privileged to know God ‘s plans on weather or rains.He is just a president of a country known as Zambia.These guys are misleading vulnerable citizens on a number of things if we are not careful we shall have a country of people who are either not well informed or dull.Teachers are busy imparting knowledge in our children at school outside wrong politicians are misleading them to misinform them.They tell lies to gain political mileage forgetting that young people are getting deceived.Parents must start guiding their children before these enemies of education spoil them.Civic education is in trouble in Zambia.To make matters worse the reading culture is pathetic.The crop of politicians especially those in opposition are just money lovers.No direction I even wonder how they share platforms with dented characters
Cheelo Katambo, you are missing the wood for the trees!!! It’s all about the mob protecting the muscle men!!.The crimes alleged should have been in the judicial mind of any competent common law court at the time. I’m afraid a constructive double jeopardy event is obvious here! Ask Obvious Mwaliteta.