EFCC okays Trial within Trial in Clever Mpoha’s bribery case
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Court has allowed the holding of a trial within trial in the Simonga Farm case to ascertain the veracity of the claims by Clever Mpoha’s lawyers that ACC officers threatened to destroy his businesses and arrest his wife if he refused to testify against Stardy Mwale.
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Mpoha’s lawyers alleged that their client did not freely give statements to the ACC under warn and caution as he was forced to do so.
This is in a matter where Eagle Trading International Limited, its owner Clever Mpoha and Mwale are charged with corrupt practices.
It is alleged that Eagle Trading and Mpoha greased Mwale’s palms with US$200,000 in order to gain ‘unfair’ advantage over other vendors to supply military attire to the ministry of defense.
Mwale is also accused of possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime.
In his testimony before principal resident magistrate Sylvia Munyinya, Ferguson Kombe said Mwale and Mpoha had a WhatsApp conversation about a bank transaction, in which Mwale indicated that the same was not processed.
Kombe said on March 20, 2018, there was an attempt by Mpoha’s company Eagle Trading Limited, to transfer US$200,000 from its account domiciled at standard chartered Bank to Simonga farms limited, but the same was not successful.
“When I was looking this evidence, I had to bear in mind with other pieces of documentary evidence that I had collected during this inquiry.
Clearly from standard chartered Bank, what I established was that the transaction in question would not be processed because the narration in question didn’t have sufficient details,”he said.
“Eagle Trading International Limited was invited for an interview. When it came, it was represented by Mr Edman Banda who came with lawyers and they were led to one of the interview rooms at ACC.”
Kombe said the allegations were read out from ACC form seven and eight to Eagle Trading International Limited after it was given the reasons it was summoned for an interview.
At this point, Mpoha’s lawyers informed the Court that the businessman was coerced to give involuntary responses, hence all the statements he gave under warn and caution were not voluntary.
Sakwiba Sikota who is representing Eagles Trading International Limited, said the company equally didn’t give a free and voluntary response as the atmosphere in the interrogation room was marred with threats, which extended to the lawyers.
“It is for those reasons that we reject to the submission of the oral statements being tendered,” he said.
Milner Katolo, another lawyer said Mpoha was threatened after he refused to be a State witness.
He said ACC officers instilled fear in him when they said they would destroy his business for refusing to be a state witness against Mwale.
“They equally threatened to arrest his wife and a call out to that effect, was issued to Mrs Esther Chanda Mpoha. All those threats were because Mr Clever Mpoha told ACC that he cannot bear false testimony,” Katolo said.
“For that reason, we strongly submit that the warn and caution statement in issue were not obtained under free and voluntary submission and the volunatariness or otherwise of the same can only be ascertained after conducting a trial within a trial to establish the issue of voluntariness.”
He asked the Court to conduct a trial within trial to establish the issue of voluntariness.
ACC senior prosecutor Daniel Ngwira did not object to the application for a trial within trial.
Magistrate Munyinya granted the application.
The matter comes up on October 7 at 14:00 hours…https://kalemba.news/court/2024/09/21/efcc-okays-trial-within-trial-in-clever-mpohas-bribery-case/
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba September 21, 2024.