CHILANGWA, CHITOTELA CASE, COURT GOES TO CRIME SCENE
The Kawambwa Magistrate Court will today shift to the crime scene and Musungu village where Ronald Chitotela was when the incident of the offences he is charged with happened.
This is in a matter that came up for commencement of defence yesterday in which Mr. Chitotela and Nickson Chilangwa with five others are charged with six counts committed on August 12, 2023.
The decision for the court to move to the scene of crime follows an application by the defence lawyer, Benjamin Mwelwa that the court moves to the two places to determine the distance between the places called Musungu and where the crime was committed.
When the matter came up for commencement of defence by the seven accused persons, Mr. Chitotela as the first offender denied committing the offence saying he was not at the scene of crime but in Musungu monitoring the voting process.
Mr. Chitotela told the court that when he voted at Poosa polling station at around 06:05 hours, he together with his driver embarked on visiting all the polling stations in the constituency starting with Chimpempe and ending at Musungu.
He said it was at Musungu where he received a call from Mr. Kumwenda, the Provincial intelligence Officer and former Provincial Permanent secretary, Charles Mushota who both informed him that two people had been killed and a vehicle burnt.
Mr. Chitotela further told the court that on September 17, 2021, he again received a phone call from UPND Vice National Chairperson for mobilisation Stephen Chikota who proposed to meet in Lusaka and resolve to buy a new vehicle as replacement for the burnt one.
He said when they met in Lusaka at Police Service headquarters in the presence of his three lawyers, Messrs Jonas Zimba, Benjamin Mwelwa and Kampamba Kombe a statement was recorded, where he denied the allegation.
“I was interrogated and my statement was recorded and i denied being part of the crime because I was at Musungu when the crime happened,” said Mr. Chitotela said.
It was at this point that defence Counsel Benjamin Mwelwa made an application to move the court in order to appreciate what the witness had said and the court granted the application.
Meanwhile, the Kawambwa magistrate Court yesterday declined to give Mr. Nickson Chilangwa bail saying he had breached the police bond conditions.
When the matter came up for the State to respond to an application made by the defence lawyers to revisit the court’s decision to revoke Mr. Chilangwa police bond, magistrate Martin Namushi declined to review the decision saying the court has the authority to cancel police bond if the conditions are breached.
At that point, defence Lawyer, Jonas Zimba applied that his client be granted bail saying the offence he is charged with is bailable.
Mr. Zimba pleaded with the court that it has power to grant bail to persons that are facing bailable offences.
“This court can also take judicial notice of the fact that Mr. Chilangwa presented himself to the Police station after being issued with the bench warrant and there is no officer that has put any evidence on record that they either went to his home or apprehended him from the market place or hiding place,” Mr. Zimba submitted.
Earlier, State Advocate Wilson Mwale objected to the defence application to grant Mr. Chilangwa bail.
Mr. Mwale stated that the State was ready to call some witnesses who can testify against granting the accused bail but magistrate Namushi refused the State’s submission to call the witnesses.
In his ruling, Magistrate Namushi denied to grant Mr. Chilangwa bail but instead be remanded at Kawambwa Correctional facility until the case is disposed off.
This is in a matter Mr. Chilangwa and his Pambashe Constituency counterpart, Ronald Chitotela with five others stand charged for arson, malicious damage to a motor vehicle before setting it ablaze, assault and threatening violence cases committed in August 2021.
In this matter, the state is being represented by State Advocates, Mwala Museta, Wilson Mwale and Public Prosecutor Sinyinda Mbangweta while the accused are represented by Jonas Zimba, Benjamin Mwelwa, Boniface Chiwala and Kampamba Kombe.
ZANIS