My appeal has good prospects of success – Mrs Kampyongo
In her second attempt at bail, Wanziya Chirwa, wife of former Home Affairs Minister Stephen Kampyongo has insisted that her appeal has good prospects of success.
Chirwa has renewed her bail application pending appeal before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court (High Court division).
In an Affidavit in support of summons for admission to bail pending appeal Chirwa who is currently remanded at Lusaka Central Correctional Facility stated that upon filing the notice of intention to appeal, she applied for bail pending appeal before the trial magistrate on September 30, 2024 and on October 29 the trial magistrate dismissed her application.
She said her appeal has good prospects of success, as demonstrated by the grounds of appeal outlined in the notice of appeal.
“The offense for which I was convicted is bailable and that if I am not granted bail, it is likely that I will have served a substantial portion of the sentence by the time my appeal is heard,”she said.
“If granted bail I will raise traceable sureties and attend to court whenever required.”
Chirwa who was jailed in five counts for possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime, wants to challenge her conviction and sentencing on eight grounds.
She argues that court below erred in law and fact when it convicted her on five counts of possession of property reasonably suspected of being proceeds of crime in the absence of a factual basis upon which the State anchored it’s reasonable suspicion.
She said principal resident magistrate Sylvia Munyinya erred in law and in fact by relying on an erroneous calculation of her purported assets totaling K23,000,000 and drawing a conclusion that her known legitimate income had a surplus of K20,000,000.
“The court below erred in law and fact by ignoring the fact that there was gross dereliction of duty on the part of the investigation officers in failing to investigate explanations given to them by the convict during their investigations,” Chirwa said.
“The court erred in law and fact by relying on what it termed as a warn and caution statement in isolation of all relevant evidence in the case.”
She said the lower court erred in law and fact when it discounted the evidence of the surveyor without any comparative basis for rejecting his evidence.
The convict said the court below erred in law and fact when it shifted the burden of proof to her in the absence of a factual basis for the reasonable suspicion.
Chirwa said the court below erred in law and fact by not making an adverse finding considering that two State witnesses were evasive in their testimonies.
“The court erred in law and fact when it sentenced me to three years simple imprisonment against the weight of the evide adduced,”said Chirwa.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba November 6, 2024.