STATE CLOSES DEC CASE AGAINST AMOS CHANDA
… NPA says it won’t call additional witness as earlier promised. Court to rule Jan 17…
15 December 2023– The National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) has closed the case in which the DEC is alleging that Amos Chanda destroyed a court record.
NPA public prosecutor Mwansa Makasa informed Lusaka Principal Resident Magistrate Irene Wishimanga that the State was not calling anymore witnesses as earlier stated in October but was closing the case forthwith and make submissions before 29 December 2023.
“The state is ready to proceed and the accused is before court your honour. But we are not calling any more witnesses today. We are closing the case,” Makasa said to the (pleasant)surprise of the defence lawyers who joked as to where the expected three new witnesses had disappeared to.
Magistrate Wishimanga: “Well, defence you have been ambushed. This is a court of ambush but you seem relaxed about it.”
Defence lawyer Timmy Munalula: ” Yes your worship we are alright because they failed to bring witneses but only a bottle of water.”
Magistrate: State, when are you making submissions?”
Prosecutor: ” December 29″.
Magistrate: ” Defence, when are you submitting?.”
Defence lawyer Benjamin Mwelwa: “Your worship we are not submitting. We shall rely on the State to submit and we shall merely look at their submissions. We shall rely on the evidence before court.”
The Magistrate then announced that she will make a case or no-case-to-answer ruling on 17 January 2024.
The evidence before court include that of the Senior Clerk of Court Ms Zintango Sakala (35) who said she did not report the matter to any police station about the alleged missing court record because no one within the Judiciary raised such a complaint.
“The document is not stolen and that’s why we in the Judiciary have not reported the matter to any police station anywhere within the borders of Zambia,” Ms Sakala said.
She also said she did not understand why Amos Chanda was before court although she understood the meaning of the charge of theft.
Defence lawyer Timmy Munalula put it to the witness that the person who stole the record was Boyd Munalula and he schemed to frame Mr Chanda because only he has this peculiar knowledge of the alleged theft in a place where he did not work.
The witness said it was strange and surprising to learn of the alleged theft of the record and that it was Mr Chanda who could be responsible.
She said there has never been any break-in at the registry whether at main door or on the safes and lockers where the court records are secured.
She denied assertions that the Judiciary was careless in the handling of court records, in response to defence lawyers’ question to confirm DEC’s suggestions that the courts were negligent.
You said you understood the charge of theft which entails permanently depriving the owner of a certain item. Has the Judiciary been deprived of the alleged stolen record, a copy of which you have tendered before this court?
Witness: ” No it has not been deprived. This scanned copy is the same as the original. The Judiciary has not been permanently deprived of the record.”
And the witness said procedure was not followed by DEC investigator Boyd Munalula because he neither presented a search warrant nor a special form specifying details of what he wanted.
Defence lawyer Timmy Munalula put it to the witness that the person who stole the record was Boyd Munalula and he schemed to frame Mr Chanda because only he has this peculiar knowledge of the alleged theft in a place where he did not work.
The witness said it was strange and surprising to learn of the alleged theft of the record and that it was Mr Chanda who could be responsible.
Three other court officials who were called as State witnesses said the court record in question was not stolen but merely missing or mis-filed.
An expert witness from ZICTA said the alleged recording containing evidence of the alleged offence was done at 02:55 am on 30 September 2022 but two star witnesses from DEC said the recording was done in the night between 20 and 21 hours on 30 September 2023.
Jeff Sitali, 37, a digital forensic expert at ZICTA told the court that he must be believed over the digital analysis of the recording because he used an incorruptible software to arrive at his findings that it was done around 02 hours. But he said he did not listen to the recording and therefore can’t tell whose voices were in it.
Boyd Munalula the arresting officer and Jones Siansamba, the key investigator in the matter, both said they did not have any expert voice analysis report to ascertain with certainty that the alleged recording was that of the accused.
A security officer from Sarovar hotel said Amos Chanda did not commit any offence at the hotel and that the video he handed over to DEC showed Amos Chanda arriving at the hotel in a black Mercedes Benz but the video produced in court by DEC showed a black Mark X car. He said since the tape was in the hands of the DEC for more than nine months, he did not know who tampered with it.
Jones Habasimbi, a waiter at Sarovar hotel said he was just a waiter who was instructed by DEC’S Boyd Munalula to implicate Amos Chanda. He said Amos Chanda sat on table 22 but the bills he tendered before court were for table 24 where other people sat.
Ends…
STATE CLOSES DEC CASE AGAINST AMOS CHANDA
… NPA says it won’t call additional witness as earlier promised. Court to rule Jan 17…
15 December 2023– The National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) has closed the case in which the DEC is alleging that Amos Chanda destroyed a court record.
NPA public prosecutor Mwansa Makasa informed Lusaka Principal Resident Magistrate Irene Wishimanga that the State was not calling anymore witnesses as earlier stated in October but was closing the case forthwith and make submissions before 29 December 2023.
“The state is ready to proceed and the accused is before court your honour. But we are not calling any more witnesses today. We are closing the case,” Makasa said to the (pleasant)surprise of the defence lawyers who joked as to where the expected three new witnesses had disappeared to.
Magistrate Wishimanga: “Well, defence you have been ambushed. This is a court of ambush but you seem relaxed about it.”
Defence lawyer Timmy Munalula: ” Yes your worship we are alright because they failed to bring witneses but only a bottle of water.”
Magistrate: State, when are you making submissions?”
Prosecutor: ” December 29″.
Magistrate: ” Defence, when are you submitting?.”
Defence lawyer Benjamin Mwelwa: “Your worship we are not submitting. We shall rely on the State to submit and we shall merely look at their submissions. We shall rely on the evidence before court.”
The Magistrate then announced that she will make a case or no-case-to-answer ruling on 17 January 2024.
The evidence before court include that of the Senior Clerk of Court Ms Zintango Sakala (35) who said she did not report the matter to any police station about the alleged missing court record because no one within the Judiciary raised such a complaint.
“The document is not stolen and that’s why we in the Judiciary have not reported the matter to any police station anywhere within the borders of Zambia,” Ms Sakala said.
She also said she did not understand why Amos Chanda was before court although she understood the meaning of the charge of theft.
Defence lawyer Timmy Munalula put it to the witness that the person who stole the record was Boyd Munalula and he schemed to frame Mr Chanda because only he has this peculiar knowledge of the alleged theft in a place where he did not work.
The witness said it was strange and surprising to learn of the alleged theft of the record and that it was Mr Chanda who could be responsible.
She said there has never been any break-in at the registry whether at main door or on the safes and lockers where the court records are secured.
She denied assertions that the Judiciary was careless in the handling of court records, in response to defence lawyers’ question to confirm DEC’s suggestions that the courts were negligent.
You said you understood the charge of theft which entails permanently depriving the owner of a certain item. Has the Judiciary been deprived of the alleged stolen record, a copy of which you have tendered before this court?
Witness: ” No it has not been deprived. This scanned copy is the same as the original. The Judiciary has not been permanently deprived of the record.”
And the witness said procedure was not followed by DEC investigator Boyd Munalula because he neither presented a search warrant nor a special form specifying details of what he wanted.
Defence lawyer Timmy Munalula put it to the witness that the person who stole the record was Boyd Munalula and he schemed to frame Mr Chanda because only he has this peculiar knowledge of the alleged theft in a place where he did not work.
The witness said it was strange and surprising to learn of the alleged theft of the record and that it was Mr Chanda who could be responsible.
Three other court officials who were called as State witnesses said the court record in question was not stolen but merely missing or mis-filed.
An expert witness from ZICTA said the alleged recording containing evidence of the alleged offence was done at 02:55 am on 30 September 2022 but two star witnesses from DEC said the recording was done in the night between 20 and 21 hours on 30 September 2023.
Jeff Sitali, 37, a digital forensic expert at ZICTA told the court that he must be believed over the digital analysis of the recording because he used an incorruptible software to arrive at his findings that it was done around 02 hours. But he said he did not listen to the recording and therefore can’t tell whose voices were in it.
Boyd Munalula the arresting officer and Jones Siansamba, the key investigator in the matter, both said they did not have any expert voice analysis report to ascertain with certainty that the alleged recording was that of the accused.
A security officer from Sarovar hotel said Amos Chanda did not commit any offence at the hotel and that the video he handed over to DEC showed Amos Chanda arriving at the hotel in a black Mercedes Benz but the video produced in court by DEC showed a black Mark X car. He said since the tape was in the hands of the DEC for more than nine months, he did not know who tampered with it.
Jones Habasimbi, a waiter at Sarovar hotel said he was just a waiter who was instructed by DEC’S Boyd Munalula to implicate Amos Chanda. He said Amos Chanda sat on table 22 but the bills he tendered before court were for table 24 where other people sat.