FORMER ZRA COMMISSIONER GENERAL, CO ACCUSED PUT ON THEIR DEFENSE
Former ZRA Commissioner General Dr. Kingsley Chanda and his co-accused Mr. Calistus Kaoma P
have been put on their defense.
When the matter came up before Magistrate Sylvia Munyinya, in a two minutes oral ruling, she told the court that the two accused were put on their defense saying the State had proved its case on all the 22 counts (vehicles) in a charge of willful failure to follow procedure.
The written ruling was not availed during the court session.
Below is a summary of the key testimonies in the court case as captured by the media since 2023.
– Testimony of the Former Chairman of the Asset Disposal Committee Mulozi Sitali
– He confirmed that the entire procedure was followed
– He said that the Commissioner General was not involved in the process
– He confirmed that his Committee had discretion to offer any vehicle to any officer
– He said that Mr. Kaoma never chaired any Asset Disposal meetings.
Testimony of Suzyo Ng’andu (Former ZRA Board Secretary)
– Ng’andu testified that the entire procedure was followed and submitted board papers and approvals before the court.
– She testified that the Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda did not do anything wrong
– She said some vehicles were found with non ZRA employees even though all the vehicles were initially sold to only ZRA employees
– Under cross-examination, she admitted that there was no board meeting where the issue of non-staff members purchasing ZRA vehicles was discussed and no query was ever raised
– She also confirmed that there was no policy prohibiting people from buying vehicles and then giving them or selling to other non ZRA people.
– When asked whether her investigations showed that Chanda and Kaoma had stolen the vehicles she responded in the negative.
Testimony of the Arresting Officer, John Mulimba
– Mulimba, the arresting officer in the case, failed to provide evidence linking Chanda and Kaoma to illegal disposal of ZRA vehicles.
– His testimony weakened the prosecution’s case as he could not substantiate claims of wrongdoing regarding the disposal process
– He confirmed that all the stages in the ZRA Asset Disposal Policy were followed by ZRA
– He however said he had a problem with some vehicles that were not advertised and the allegations that Kaoma gave money to some officers to buy the some vehicles.
– When Mulimba was asked as to whether Chanda and Kaoma were responsible for advertising he said no, it was Mr. Mulozi.
– Asked whether he had evidence that Kaoma gave money to officers he said no; he was just told.
Today 18th March, 2025 the Zambian Judiciary put Chanda and Kaoma on their defense.
Source: Edward Zulu, Freelance Journalist