BINWELL SPARKS COURTROOM SHOWDOWN
…as sureties face legal heat
By DAVID KANDUZA
THE solemn corridors of the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court erupted into a high-stakes legal thriller on Monday, November 2, 2026, as the ongoing sedition trial of former Nkana member of Parliament Binwell Mpundu took a chaotic twist.
With the accused politician missing and defying an active arrest warrant, the judicial spotlight had dramatically shifted to his prominent political guarantors.
In a tense courtroom session, Magistrate Webster Milumbe issued a compelling directive to State authorities, ordering the immediate production of former Chilubi lawmaker Mulenga Fube.
Mr Fube could not simply walk into court—he had to be escorted from a cell at the Kabwata Police Station, where he was being held in State custody following his own weekend arrest for an unrelated felony.
The courtroom drama deepened as the legal team for the defense, led by attorney Leon Lemba, laid out a bleak picture of Mpundu’s missing support system.
While Mr Fube languished in police custody after being apprehended on Saturday, Mpundu’s second surety, former Kamfinsa lawmaker Christopher Kang’ombe, was reported to be too unwell to attend the proceedings.
Faced with a vanishing accused and a crippled pair of guarantors, an unyielding Magistrate Milumbe made it clear that the court’s patience had worn thin.
Under the strict rules of Zambian bail conditions, sureties bear the heavy burden of ensuring an accused person stands trial or accounting for their sudden disappearance.
Consequently, the court ordered the State to bring the incarcerated Fube before the bench today, November 3, 2026, to show why his bail recognisance should not be forfeited.
Recognising the medical excuse presented for Mr Kang’ombe, the magistrate permitted him to appear on a separate, later date to explain his absence.
The underlying case stems from a high-profile political flashpoint in December 2024.
Mr Mpundu, who serves as the presidential affairs chairperson for the NRPUP, was facing one count of seditious practices.
The State alleged he crossed a dangerous legal line by publishing inflammatory material that explicitly encouraged politicians to arm themselves, allegedly altering political rhetoric into a call to ‘defend yourselves with equal measure.’
The trial had reached a critical bottleneck. The court was poised to deliver a crucial case to answer ruling, which would determine whether the prosecution had built a strong enough case to force Mr Mpundu into entering his defense.
However, the legal machinery had ground to a halt as Mr Mpundu continued to play a game of hide-and-seek with law enforcement.
This marks the second time Magistrate Milumbe had been forced to issue a bench warrant against the former Nkana Independent MP, following a similar vanishing act by the politician in July.
With a second bench warrant hanging over Mr Mpundu’s head like a legal guillotine, the stage was set for a dramatic Tuesday morning.
All eyes now turn back to the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court to see if the State would successfully produce an incarcerated Mr Fube, and whether the elusive Mr Mpundu would finally surface to face the music.