KAMBWiLI GUILTY, BUT FREE TO GO
… escapes prison with one-year suspended sentence
By DAVID KANDUZA
FIERY opposition politician and former Information Minister, Chishimba Kambwili, was convicted of unlawful assembly and handed a one-year suspended prison sentence today November 9, 2026.
For a man whose political career had been defined by roaring rhetoric and high-stakes legal battles, the courtroom scene was a stark, sobering contrast.
Visibly worn down by a series of severe illnesses and the physical toll of past injuries, the once-boisterious ‘Prince Cobra’ clone watched silently as Lusaka Magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli delivered a verdict that could have sent him back behind bars.
Instead, the gavel fell with a measure of mercy.
The case dates back to a tense morning on January 26, 2023, when a crowd of disgruntled youths marched to Mr Kambwili’s private residence in Lusaka’s Woodlands area.
The youths, singing politically charged songs lamenting the high cost of living under the current administration, gathered in front of the veteran politician’s gate just adjust to the two miniature Leopards depicting the once upon powerful politician.
While the State argued that the gathering constituted an unauthorised, unlawful assembly aimed at breaching public peace, Mr Kambwili’s defence consistently maintained that he was merely receiving visitors who had come to apologise for past political slights.
Ultimately, Magistrate Mwamfuli ruled that the gathering breached statutory boundaries, finding Kambwili guilty under Section 74 of the Penal Code.
However, taking into account his precarious health—Mr Kambwili had frequently appeared in court panting, coughing and needing physical assistance from wardens due to complications from an accident that broke six of his ribs—the court opted against custodial punishment.
The announcement of the suspended sentence brought an immediate, audible sigh of relief from family members and legal counsel packed into the gallery.
Under the terms of the judgment, Mr Kambwili would not serve time in a correctional facility unless he committed a similar offense within the designated period.
As he was escorted out of the court complex into the cold Lusaka afternoon, the former Roan member of Parliament did not offer his trademark thunderous political soundbites to the waiting Press pack.
He walked slowly, leaning on his handlers, free for now, but carrying the heavy asterisk of a criminal conviction