Lusambo praises God after acquittal
FORMER Lusaka province minister Bowman Lusambo on Thursday breathed a sigh of relief after his acquittal by the Lusaka magistrates court, for attempting to interfere with witnesses.
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All Lusambo could do after missing the prison path in one of his many criminal cases was to exalt God.
“I just want to thank the almighty God that I’ve been vindicated. According to the judge today, he has told us that there was nothing like interfering with witnesses when I greeted the three at the courts of law. So, I want to thank the almighty God for allowing the court to thoroughly investigate this case and to come up with a sound judgment,” said Lusambo.
Lusambo was facing three counts of attempting to interfere with witnesses who were scheduled to testify before magistrate Faidess Hamaundu in a matter where he is accused of posessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime, engaging in tax evasion among other charges.
Allegations in the three counts were that Lusambo between February 1, April 1 and April 30,2022 in order to obstruct the due course of justice endeavored to disuade or prevent Cosmas Chalusa, Enerst Sumani and Mundia Mataa to give evidence as witnesses before court.
In his judgment, acting senior resident magistrate Trevor Kasanda said the Anti-Corruption Commission did not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
He said the prosecutions did not mention at what point Lusambo interfered with the witnesses.
“The prosecutions has not made a prima facie that the accused obstructed the witnesses. Calling the three does not amount to interference. The accused’s interaction did not cause a threat to the witness to stop them from testifying in the case,” magistrate Kasanda said.
He said Lusambo did not commit any crime and acquitted him in all the three counts.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba September 29, 2024.