“State Witness Admits: ‘I Don’t Know What Tembo Did’”
In a courtroom moment that could rival a comedy skit, the State’s first witness in the case against Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) president Sean Tembo admitted she had absolutely no idea what crime he was supposed to have committed.
Testifying before Chief Resident Magistrate Davies Chibwili, State witness Margaret Chienda, a registration officer at the Register of Societies, was asked by Defense Counsel Leon Lemba if she knew the offense Tembo had committed. Her answer was a flat, unshaken, “No.”
At that point, one could almost hear courtroom benches creak from suppressed laughter.
Tembo is charged with using insulting language against President Hakainde Hichilema a case that, judging from the witness stand, seems to have been built on the scaffolding of thin air.
With no other witnesses in sight, the case stumbled and adjourned until today, leaving the courtroom with more questions than answers.
Magistrate Chibwili, clearly unimpressed, warned the State against wasting the court’s time. “Next time, come prepared,” he cautioned, in what could easily pass as a polite way of saying, “Don’t waste my coffee break.”
For now, the trial continues or rather limps along with the State still expected to produce witnesses who, unlike Chienda, might actually know why they’re in court.
©️ KUMWESU | August 20, 2025
Does a witness have to understand what wrong the accused committed? I thought the role of a witness is to give an account of what transpired or what they saw or heard. In this case they should just say what they heard Mr. Tembo say either through some medium or in person. What wrong he committed is for the law enforcement.agents to determine not the witness.
So the witness was absolutely right to say she didnot know what wrong Mr. Tembo had committed.
Please correct me if I am wrong.