Munir did nothing wrong to make comparisons of peoples intelligence – police officer
A DIGITAL forensic analyst says Lumezi member of parliament Munir Zulu did not breach the ethos of the State’s watchword of oneness “one Zambia one nation” when he made a comparison of intelligence levels between two ethnic groups.
Memory Namfukwe a police officer based at Force Headquarters under the forensic department said she was not cognisant of what constitutes hate speech.
In this case, Zulu is accused of expressing hatred and contempt for persons because of tribe, race or place of origin when he expressed disaffection towards the people of Bweengwa.
It is alleged that on March 28, 2023, Zulu said ;” I am a villager from Lumezi, but I can tell you that villagers from Lumezi are more intelligent than villagers fromn Bweengwa” which showed hatred against a group of persons namely the villagers from Bweengwa.
Testifying before magistrate Amy Masoja, Namfukwe said on sometime in March the criminal investigations department requested sound forensic extraction from Facebook and she was given two links.
She said according to the video she downloaded Zulu who carried a pair of shoes and was embraced by Mporokoso member of parliament Brian Mundubile prior to comparing the intellect of easterners to southerners.
During cross examination by Nkhula Botha the witness is not a linguistic expert and knows nothing about hate speech.
Asked if she comprehended the content of the video she downloaded and watched several times, the witness denied.
Namfukwe said the verbatim on the indictment which is attributed to Zulu was wrongly quoted as he did not say “I can tell you” but instead he said “I want to tell you”.
She wouldn’t know if the charge sheet describes an offence as making a comparison of people’s brains is not an offence.
And Kitwe resident Bill Kapinga said whilst relaxing at his home and browsing through Facebook he stumbled upon a video were Zulu uttered words intended to cause hatred and ridicule towards a certain ethnic group.
He said he got incensed because the lawmaker portrayed the people of Bweengwa to be shallow-brained.
“I reported the matter to the police in Ndola. The police assured me that they would carry out investigations and if there was need they could get back to me. They showed me a video and asked me to confirm whether the content is what prompted me to report the matter to the police and I responded in the affirmative,” Kapinga said.
“I was told the person in question had been detained and the matter would proceed to court and I said he was willing to testify.”
During cross examination the witness who confirmed that the verbatim on the indictment was quoted wrongly said he was affected on behalf of the people of Bweengwa.
He said he consulted Keegan Mudenda and a Mr Chimpati of how they perceived Zulu’s utterances before he drew a conclusion that Zulu dislikes the said group.
Asked if the population in Bweengwa was made up of two people for him to restrict his study to two participants, Kapinga said his study was limited due to resources.
“An expression of an opinion about who is intelligent is an offence it incites anger, the people of Bweengwa were upset with the utterances made by Honourable Zulu,” said the emotionally charged Kapinga.
Asked if he had proof to show that the people of Bweengwa were at swords’ point with Zulu over his utterances, Kapinga denied.
Trial continues on January 23, 2024.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba December 5, 2023.
Another Nolle coming up.
Sue his ass please.
Memory Namfukwe is a digital forensic analyst. Her job is to establish the authenticity of online videos and statements by linking them to the address of the person alleged to have generated them. It’s not her role to draw conclusions if any crime was committed from such videos. No one is licenced to have contempt for a whole group of people.