Former State House press aid Amos Chanda explains the arrest for allegedly stealing and burning a court document
PRESS STATEMENT ON MY ARREST
By Amos Chanda
24th October,2022
1. I was arrested on Thursday,19th October,2022 at 15 hours by the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers.
I was asked for the two sureties and I presented the two sureties that are on record with DEC in another matter in which they re-arrested me last month but has not been taken to court for three weeks now.
DEC demanded new letters from employers of my sureties.The same people,same address and same details but only to go and change the date.
By 16 hours,the two letters were presented at DEC the two men presented themselves physically.
2. Five DEC officers then stormed the interview room as one of them announced that I had to be detained because bond will not be given as per very strict superior orders from the DG of DEC Mrs Mary Chirwa.
My lawyers drew the attention to the provisions of the law and my rights under Article 18 of the Constitution,but the officers insisted that BOND was discretional and therefore the DG-DEC has exercised that discretion not to issue the BOND.
One of them later came to advise that in the light of a sick note for Mr Chanda that he had now become aware of,it is possible that DEC would reconsider thier position.As he was talking to my lawyers on this possibility,two rude and provocative officers stormed the room and insisted that instructions are clear that I have been locked up at Kabwata Police from where I can count for any relief that I wanted because as far as the DG-DEC was concerned,I was to be in custody without bond.
3. When I was still in state house as Special Assistant,I attended all call-outs and interviews they requested.I attended two summons and one interview.I was never charged for any offense because they said they were only asking to help with investigations.
4. In 2019,shortly after I resigned from office,I was informed verbally that I needed to see the DEC and when I made contact,I was told there was not need.
In November 2019,DEC issued two call-outs and I answered both leading to my arrest on a trumped-up charge of proceeds of crime.
This case was never taken to court until the following year in 2020 after various protestations from my lawyers to the DEC to present the matter before court.
It has to be stressed here that this case was engineered by Mary Chirwa(at that time Mary Tshuma) as DG of Financial Intelligence Center (FIC).As DEC under Alita Mbawe as DG and NPA tried to investigate and properly question the suspects,Mary Tshuma engaged Kaizer Zulu,Hibeene Mwiinga and Simon Miti to ensure that the case was pushed to court.
Simon Miti called Alita Mbawe to find out the status of the case because Mary Tshuma wanted to see the President (Edgar Lungu) about this matter.When the case did not move to court in November and December 2019,Mary Tshuma engaged the Director General of the Zambia Intelligence Service,the late Samuel Nkhoma to help push this case to court and ensure that President (Edgar Lungu) was “properly briefed”.
5. The DG OP Mr Nkhoma showed some inordinate interest in this matter and regularly approached the DPP Lillian Siyuni pushing her to prosecute the case.
She told him that I was so remotely connected to the case and that no reasonable court or tribunal can convict.He said he would help to provide evidence (very strange offer indeed from such an office).
DEC,Police ACC and other statutory bodies are lawfully mandated to investigate and present these matters to the courts.After this level of interest,the DPP directly contacted me on what I knew about the case.Most of my conversations with her are subject to constraints of OATH OF OFFICE and OFFICIAL SECRET LAWS.
6. The case finally took off in January,2020 and by the time it was closed via a nolle prosequi,not a single witness had named me in the case.
The case was closed via a nolle and subsequent action by the DPP.This is now the matter Mary Chirwa has purportedly reopened but for three weeks she has not presented the case before court.
7. This is a matter which alleges has missing court records dating back to 12/05/2020!.
8. There are operational matters hinging on state operations between myself (as press aide) and Mary Chirwa (Tshuma) then as FIC Director-General which she seeks to hide behind the lawful power vested in the office she now holds.The various cases of possible criminal conduct and other abuses on her past that came into my possession by virtue of office cannot be used to victimize me.
9. I will further put before court a detailed chronology of events to show and possibly stop this witch hunt.