IN a twist of events, social media media blogger Mwewa Chitambala, alias, known as Simon Mwewa Lane, told a magistrate that Chishimba Kambwili is wrongly charged for the offence of unlawful assembly.
Mr Chitambala narrated yesterday that he does not think the former Minister of Information and Broadcasting, should be in the dock, over the matter he(Mr Chitambala) reported to the police.
He instead says the one who should be in court for the allegations is Charles Kakula, who is reportedly abroad.
“I reported [Charles]Kakula to the Lusaka Central police and asked the police to address the issue.
I don’t think Kambwili should be on trial but Kalula,” Mr Chitambala told magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli.
This is in a case Kambwili is facing charges of unlawful assembly and is jointly charged with fugitive businessman Charles Kakula.
It is alleged that Kambwili and Kakula, on January 26, 2023, in Lusaka, jointly and while acting with others unknown, unlawfully assembled with intent to commit an offence or breach the peace.
But when the case came up for continued trial, Mr Chitambala told the court that Kambwili should not be on trial, as he had actually reprimanded Kakula, who led a group in chanting what was interpreted as a tribal song.
Mr Chitambala said during the material times, he watched a video on the Smart Eagles Facebook page that showed a group of about ten youths singing outside Kambwili’s residence.
He identified the group leader as Charles Kakula, a young man he knew personally.
He said that the group sang a Bemba song that loosely translated to, “You told us to get on a boat but we mounted a cow,” which he believed had tribal undertones.
According to the witness, Kambwili immediately reprimanded the group, particularly Kakula, for singing the song, a move Chitambala felt showed disapproval and did not warrant criminal charges against Kambwili.
“…they entered the gate and were addressed by Mr Kambwili who upon hearing the lyrics of that song, he reprimanded the young man.
In the video, Mr Kambwili didn’t seem to be pleased and he reprimanded them, in particular, Charles Kakula, who was the leader of that group,” Mr Chitambala said.
The blogger added that he reported Kakula, not Kambwili, to Lusaka Central Police because his utterances promotes tribal sentiments.
In cross examination, Mr Chitambala confirmed that he did not submit the video in issue to the police or present it in court as evidence.
The matter was been adjourned to June 29 for continued trial.
(Mwebantu)