DPP appeals McPherson Chanda’s two-year jail term
By Mwaka Ndawa
THE Director of Public Prosecutions has appealed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Court before the Lusaka High Court against the two-year jail term imposed on former postmaster general McPherson Chanda and two others by its sibling court in Ndola, for theft by public servant.
Lillian Siyunyi on behalf of the Anti-Corruption Commission argues that the convicts’ sentence is compassionate and not in conformity with the rules of sentencing.
On July 7, 2022, Ndola magistrate Kaunda Sakwanda sentenced Chanda and his accomplices Best Mwaiche, director finance, and Isaac Kawimba, director operations at Zampost, to two years simple imprisonment in a matter where they were facing 13 counts of theft by servant for diverting Social Cash Transfer Funds amounting to K335,108,834 without lawful authority.
Magistrate Sakwanda entered a statutory judgment in favour of the Attorney General to reclaim the K335 million.
The convicts withheld Social Cash Transfer Funds in a fixed deposit account whenever the money was due for payment to the intended beneficiaries for seven days to amass interest, without consent from the Ministry of Community Development and Social Security.
The three challenged their conviction to the EFCC on four grounds.
They argued that magistrate Sakwanda erred in law and fact when she found that the prosecution had established a case against them beyond reasonable doubt.
Chanda and his accomplices said the trial court erred in law when it held that Section 90 of the postal services Act did not apply to the case.
The three said magistrate Sakwanda erred in law and fact when she entered statutory judgment in favour of the State to recoup the K355 million having found as a matter of fact that Zampost had only received K98 million as Social Cash Transfer Funds from the Ministry of Community Development and Social Security.
“The learned trial court erred in law and fact when she entered statutory judgment in favour of the Attorney General in the sum of K355 million contrary to clear evidence on record that none of the convicts personally benefited from the said funds,” argued the trio.
However, the DPP has equally appealed magistrate Sakwanda’s judgment on grounds that the court was sympathetic in meting out punishment on the convicts.
In her ground of appeal, Siyunyi said: “the learned trial court erred in law when it failed to follow sentencing principles and arrived at a linient sentence that does not reflect the seriousness of the offence.”
She indicated that she will avail the court with more grounds of appeal.
PHOTO CAPTION McPherson (L) with his brothers Sunday and Jonas Chanda