BANKER CITED FOR CONTEMPT IN STARDY MWALE CASE
….after lying in the Lusaka Magistrate Court regarding custody of a bank documents
Lusaka…Thursday, June 27, 2024
A 31-year-old First National Bank (FNB) Banker Chawezi Nyirenda has been cited for contempt after lying in the Lusaka Magistrate Court regarding custody of bank documents.
In this matter, former defense Permanent Secretary, Stardy Mwale and others are accused of corrupt practices.
When the matter came up for trial today, Mr Nyirenda said sometime in 2020, the bank’s compliance department received a warrant requesting information on one of the clients whose names are Simonga Farms Limited.
He said he extracted one Dollar account and another Kwacha account adding that on the Kwacha copy, the amount was K2.5 million while $200,000 was the amount on the dollar account.
Mr Nyirenda claimed that he had the documents in his custody, “which I now wish to render before court as part of my evidence.”
However, during cross examination, the witness disclosed that the copies he claimed to have had in his custody was instead in ACC’s custody and was merely given to him by the Commission during interviews.
He also confirmed that he had never been stationed at FNB Mazabuka branch adding that the account he was referring to has specialized managers.
Mr Nyirenda also confirmed that the account was classified as an agribusiness account.
When asked if the person managing the account as relationship’s manager should be one with agribusiness bias, the witness said “not entirely.”
When the defense asked for clarity on what he meant by “not entirely,” the witness said “what I mean is that throughout the process of managing an account, the relationship manager can differ depending on the growth of that company as well as the nature of that company’s business.”
The witness revealed that as of 18th April, 2017, he was nowhere near FNB.
Asked about the year 2018, he said “I was in the bank but not managing these accounts.”
He added that as such, he had no interaction with any of the directors or managers of Simonga Farms Limited.
A similar matter where a witness told the court of officers from either DEC or ACC of getting statements that were not supposed to be presented before the court of law occurred in the case of Hon Joseph Malanji, the former foreign affairs minister.
In this case, Hon Malanji and former Secretary to Treasury Fredson Yamba are charged with 10 counts of willful failure to comply with laid down procedures and possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Regarding the same matter, a Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) senior tax inspector Chilala Hakalima told the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court on the 20th of this month that the witness statement he gave to Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) against former foreign affairs minister Joseph Malanji cannot be tendered into evidence in court because it might contain lies.
Jail these contempous liars and those that aid them. They cost the state substanial amounts when the state loses these cases, by way of suits and claims.
We count on officers of law and Prosecution as well as witnesses to hold criminals accountable. Before a case goes to court. Folks need to show seriousness and this embarasses those that seek bring sanity to the nation by seeking to it that laws and the conduct of those that serve us are above board.