*MARIA ZALOUMIS ESCAPES THE JAWS OF JUSTICE, COURTESY OF A CONTROLLED JUDICIARY*
By Prof. Proud Moonga, PhD | Lecturer, University of Michigan, USA | Good Governance Activist
Zambia’s justice system is under serious scrutiny. The growing perception among citizens, especially those from the Eastern and Northern (Bemba) regions, is that the judiciary no longer stands as an impartial guardian of the law but has become a weapon of selective justice. Meanwhile, those from the Zambezi region appear to enjoy a softer, more protective judicial hand. If not urgently addressed, this dangerous imbalance risks tearing apart the very fabric of our democracy.
Today, two sharply contrasting court outcomes have shaken public confidence. In Kabwe, a magistrate granted bail to murder-accused businesswoman Maria Zaloumis, her husband, and two of her employees, all from the Zambezi region. Yet, on the very same day in Lusaka, another magistrate sentenced Kingsley Chanda and Kaoma, both from the Eastern region, to six years’ imprisonment with hard labour for merely failing to follow laid-down procedure in the disposal of government vehicles.
Let that sink in: those accused of taking human life are treated leniently, while those accused of administrative errors are condemned to prison. Such contradictions make it impossible for citizens to believe in the fairness and consistency of our justice system. When people begin to see that judicial outcomes depend not on law or evidence, but on where one comes from or who one is aligned with politically, the rule of law collapses.
Let it be clear: this is not a defence of wrongdoing. Wrongdoers must face justice, but justice must be equal. What is happening in Zambia today is not equality before the law. It is regional bias, dressed up as judicial discretion. It breeds anger, resentment, and division. It turns the courts—once proud pillars of fairness—into instruments of political and regional persecution.
This pattern has become too obvious to ignore. Individuals such as Munir Zulu, Bowman Lusambo, Nickson Chilangwa, Maureen Mabonga, Ronald Chitotela, Charity Katanga, Wanziya Chirwa, Charles Mushota, Fredson Yamba, Wilson Lungu, and Given Katuta Mwelwa, all from the Eastern and Northern regions, have faced harsh rulings or prolonged detentions. Meanwhile, others from the Zambezi region, even when accused of graver crimes, continue to receive leniency, bail, or outright protection. The imbalance is glaring. The people see it. And they are talking about it.
This is no longer a coincidence. It is a pattern. And patterns, when repeated in a democracy, become systems of control. Easterners and Bembas must stop fighting each other and recognise that they face a shared injustice, a coordinated marginalisation that weakens their regions and divides the nation. The real issue is not tribe but power and control. Unity, vigilance, and collective action are now essential if Zambia is to reclaim an independent judiciary and restore public faith in justice.
A controlled judiciary is more dangerous than open dictatorship. It operates under the cover of legality while silently destroying freedom. When people lose faith in the courts, the Republic begins to rot from within.
Justice must never depend on who you are, where you come from, or who you support politically. It must depend solely on truth and law. Until that principle is restored, Zambia will remain a democracy only in name.
END///
The Rule of Sacreds, By Sacreds and for Sacreds,
A Sacred group has been created, while Lesser mortals Languish in Dungeons .
Come 13th August,2026
On my Ballot will be
Hakainde’s Executive Misrule
Nellie Mutti ‘s Parliament
Mumba Malila’s Judiciary
The Axis of E…
The Axis will fall on 13th August 2026
You are free to Dream…
You will be shocked….
My advise would be that seek therapy before then as you still have a long way till somewhere around the 2060 – 2090 by which time nature would have taken us out….
The Zambia we have become!
1. Honourable Chishimba Kambwili – Tonga Hate Speech
2. Honourable Chishimba Kambwili – Unlawful Assembly at his home
3. Charles Kakula – Co Accused with Hon Chishimba Kambwili for Unlawful Assembly.
4. Hon Nixon Chilangwa – For Electoral Violence involving the Patriotic Front and UPND Cadres
5. Hon Ronald Chitotela – For Electoral Violence involving the Patriotic Front and UPND Cadres
6. Hon Maureen Mabonga – Sedition
7. Hon Jay Jay Banda – Aggravated Robbery
8. Hon Edith Nawakwi ( late ) detained for Sedition over 10 days, even missing her India Medical appointment for Sedition
9. Apostle Dan Pule Sedition or something like Tribal Wars
10. Hon Munir Zulu – Sedition, Criminal Defamation of Hon Situmbeko Musokotwane and Hon Charles Milupi…and Tonga Hate Speech for saying People from Lumezi are smarter than those from Bweengwa ( looks like Douglas Siakalima ‘s poverty of the Mind Statement against people of Luapula)
11. Hon Given Katuta – Alleged Spitting
12. Hon Jean Chisenga – Detained over Kawambwa Bye Elections Issues
13. Hon Celestine Mukandila – Kawambwa Bye Elections Issues
14. Hon Mumbi Phiri – Detained for close to a year over Electoral Violence involving PF and UPND Cadres in which one UPND Cadre, Lawrence Banda AKA Ghadafi was killed .
15. Hon Mumbi Phiri – Detained for Issues related to Kawambwa Bye Elections
13. Hon Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba – Being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of Crime
14. Hon Bowman Lusambo – Being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of Crime
15. Hon Bowman Lusambo – Unlawful Assembly at Brimas Station
16. Billy Sichamba – Co Accused with Hon Lusambo for Unlawful Assembly
17. Said Chibwana – Co Accused with Hon Lusambo for Unlawful Assembly
18. Matthews Changwe- Co Accused with Hon Lusambo for Unlawful Assembly
19. Martin Simfukwe – Co Accused with Hon Lusambo for Unlawful Assembly
20. Dr Fred Mmembe – Detained for Allegedly discharging a firearm, Sedition for giving an Interview
21. Dr Fred Mmembe ‘s Co Accused – Daniel Mumba
22. Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba – Alleged Assault of Police Officer
23. Brebnar Changala – Sedition
24. Hon Raphael Nakachinda – Hate Speech
25. Innocent Phiri – Journalist
26. Mwenda Kasonde – EFF President Unlawful Assembly
27. 13 EFF Members
40. Rizwaan Patel – Detained for close to 2 years for alleged Aggravated Robbery offence on Chama America and his ‘ FBI’ friend.
41. Rizwaan Patel Co Accused – Joseph Phiri
42. Rizwaan Patel Co Accused – Grey Daka
43. Rizwaan Patel Co Accused – Simon Nkhoma
44. Catherine Mphanza – Chipata Woman imprisoned for Ridicule of the President over the death of Edgar Lungu comments
45. Mary Lungu – Imprisoned for Ridicule of the President over the death of Edgar Lungu comments.
46. Jackson Chama – Tonga Hate Speech
47. Francis Kapwepwe – aka Why Me – Tonga Hate Speech
44. Madam Esther Lungu – Theft of Motor vehicle
45. Tasila Lungu – Being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of Crime
46. Chiyesu Lungu – Being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime
47. Hon Binwell Mpundu – Sedition
48. Sean Tembo
49. Thomas Zulu – Gen Z, detained for close to 2 weeks for demonstrating against Load Shedding
50. Jason Mwanza Gen Z , detained for close to 2 weeks for demonstrating against Load Shedding
51. Chanda Chikwanka, detained for close to 2 weeks for demonstrating against Load Shedding
52. Petty Chanda – Journalist
53. Thomas Zgambo – Journalist
54. Rodgers Mwimba – Journalist
55. Thandizo Banda – Photo Journalist
56. Shebby Chilekwa – Imprisoned for Murder over Electoral Violence involving the Patriotic Front and UPND Cadres.
57. Hon Davies Chama – Imprisoned for Violence involving the Patriotic Front and UPND Cadres
58. Hon Davies Mwila
59. Mr Kingsley Chanda – former ZRA Director General – 6 Years for not following procedures.
60. Mr Kaoma – 9 years imprisonment for not following procedures
61. Hon Joe Malanji – 4 years Imprisonment – being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of Crime.
62. Wanziya Chirwa ( Mrs Kampyongo) – Being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of Crime
63. Charity Katanga
And many more.
And many more are still on queue to Mwembeshi…
These guys destroyed our country and you as a Zambian can stand there and support such…
What kind of a People have we become that we can support thuggery….
So, according to you, lawbreakers should not be held accountable, right? What kind of society would that be where lawlessness is not punished, because God has set punishment for all lawbreakers?
Prof you can only mislead few pf Idiots above not all of us.Try to find something to write about please.That boy was found on someone`s property trying to commit a crime.He was given a punishment without the intention of killing him.Unfortunately he died.We all know its manslaughter and it has nothing to do with politics or the desire you are trying to perceive which is politics and bitternes.Dont take us for granted by comparing cases involving a grouping of thieves to this young lady.We are here today cause of the mindset like yours,educated but still a fool
Exactly …
What kind of reasoning is this? How do you compare a judgment and a charge? These two are not the same, so they can not be compared. How does one compare a case whose judgment has been passed with one that is still in court?
A weird analysis by a so called Dr…
Most likely git his PhD using AI…
Let him read the Zambian Criminal Laws and Procedures before emptying his already empty head to the World…
Fake professor trying to mislead people.This is Muamba/Mwamba at it again.There is no professor Moonga here but just someone hiding under a fake name.They just desperate these people
The reading tries to make sense but the writing did divert when regionalism sentiments came in.Murder case attracts the maximum punitive measure as such it is prudent to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the suspect had malice or had planned to murder.But where it is observed the individuals found themselves in a circumstance that gets them closer to the action of murder but not, they are given a lesser charge which is manslaughter.This is not the first case in our country to go that way.No one has the right to take law in their own hands and kill a person regardless of the nature of provocation, however if manslaughter allows for the provisions of bail that is the right of the accused.It is wrong for one to deliberately select words to use, to give an impression that some one has survived from the jaws, and insinuate that the judiciary system is selective and discriminative.You must not compare cases that some individuals faced, the penal code and the criminal procedure code prescribe the the offences and punitive measures accordingly.It is extremely dangerous to start bringing political thinking in the judiciary with the view of gaining political mileage.You are simply inciting anarchy.