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State to call 10 pornography witnesses against Kabwela

State to call 10 pornography witnesses against Kabwela
Written by Mwala Kalaluka and George Chellah
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 4:29:59 PM

POST news editor, Chansa Kabwela, yesterday pleaded not guilty to one count of circulating obscene matters or things contrary to section 177 1(b) of the Penal Code.

And Kabwela's lawyers objected to some variances in wording on the consent to prosecute the case from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the indictment before the court.

Kabwela, 29, appeared before Lusaka chief resident magistrate Charles Kafunda. Particulars of the offence were that Kabwela, between June 1 and 10, 2009 in Lusaka did circulate two obscene photographs tending to corrupt public morals.

Lusaka deputy division prosecutor, Anderson Simbuliani represented the state in the matter while Remmy Mainza, George Chisanga, Chileshe Kaoma and Sam Mujuda represented Kabwela.

Earlier, Chisanga asked the court to ask the state to revise the indictment because compared with the wording in the consent from the DPP's chambers, it was notably devoid of specificity.

Chisanga said the accused person had a right to know exactly what was being alleged against her.

“The section under which the accused is being tried must be fully complied with,” Chisanga said. “We do not want to be caught stabbing in the dark.”

Chisanga asked for a short period of time to allow the state come up with an indictment that was specific in the interest of justice.

Mainza also submitted that the consent and the indictment appeared to be inconsistent.

“You will note, your honour, from the particulars of the offence are that between the first and tenth of June at Lusaka in the indictment before the court the words used are as follows, 'on or about',” Mainza said. “The two words are in variance. They do not mean one and the same thing. So it is either the consent is defective. My understanding is that the DPP should have uplifted the particulars of the offence as they appear in the indictment, but this is not the case.”

Simbuliani insisted that the indictment was framed within the confines of the law and that it was almost the same with the wording on the consent to prosecute.

Kafunda stood down the matter for about ten minutes before he returned to the courtroom to make the ruling on the matter. In his ruling, magistrate Kafunda said he did not see how the differences in the wording in the consent and the indictment could affect the operation of the consent to render authority to prosecute the matter.

“I see no defects in terms of the wording on the indictment in its allegation that the offence was committed between first and tenth of June 2009,” he said.

Kafunda said this was a matter to be settled by evidence since both the defence and the court were not privy to the evidence that would be adduced by the prosecution.

“Hence the need to wait,” said Kafunda.

Asked by Kafunda to disclose the number of witnesses they had lined up in the matter, Simbuliani said they would call about 10 witnesses.

The court then set August 5, 2009 as the date for the commencement of trial, August 24 and September 8 for continued trial respectively.

Kafunda directed the prosecution to ensure that a minimum of three witnesses be called to testify on each of the days reserved for trial. He also told both parties that submissions on whether there is or no case to answer would be done verbally.

Diverse people, ranging from women's rights activists, and media practitioners to politicians attended Kabwela's court hearing. Among the notables were Heritage Party leader Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda, PF vice-president Dr Guy Scott, MMD deputy national secretary Jeff Kaande, women's rights activist Sarah Longwe, musicians Maiko and Sister D, PF members of parliament Chishimba Kambwili (Roan), Jean Kapata (Mandevu) and Mumbi Phiri (Munali) and representatives from media bodies.

And PF president Michael Sata said Zambians must brace themselves for viciousness from President Rupiah Banda.

He said it was clear that President Banda was behind Kabwela's arrest.

"Rupiah Banda will be more vicious as we go on. He will actually even be more vicious than the way Kenneth Kaunda was. Just look at how things are going on in the country at the moment, the arrest of Kabwela is one such case," Sata said. "Rupiah is just harassing Kabwela over nothing. All that is pointing to the same viciousness I am talking about. Rupiah will be worse than Kaunda and Zambians must know that."

He said even the appointment of Lameck Mangani as home affairs minister was strategic.

"Rupiah has made Mangani as home affairs minister because he knows the harassment, intimidation and viciousness he will embark on as we go on. He wants a person like Mangani to be in charge of that ministry so that he can easily abuse the security wings such as the police in the manner like the one we are currently witnessing," he said.

Sata said President Banda wanted to divert the nation's attention from serious issues.

"For instances, we have reliable information that the same police he is using have not yet been paid their salaries. We have information that Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde recently addressed the police at force headquarters where he told them that they shouldn't even assure themselves of getting their mealie-meal allocations because he doesn't know when the next consignment will come," Sata explained. "We also have information that they want those police officers that are currently accommodating in police camps to start servicing their utility bills such as water and electricity from their own pockets. They have diverted all the money to the Chitambo parliamentary by-election."

And the media bodies yesterday expressed their displeasure at the arrest of Kabwela.

"The Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA), Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) And the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia would like to urge the government and Members of Parliament to amend the law on obscenity in order for the said law to define in clear terms what constitutes obscenity and matters that can corrupt morals," they stated in a joint press statement. "Currently Section 177 makes it an offence to be in possession of, or circulation of obscene material. However, this law does not define what constitutes obscene matter. It simply makes the offence punishable through imprisonment up to five years. However, the law is too broad and it leaves to the discretion of the person in authority to determine what constitutes obscene material.



"As media associations, whose membership is drawn from media practitioners, we wish to urge government and indeed our law makers to amend these laws that impinge on press freedom by clearly defining what constitutes obscenity. Currently under this law, journalists are operating in grey areas that are not clearly defined."

They stated that they wish to register their concerns that information that is communicated must be treated with the intention it was communicated.

"... because as media ethics demand, sometimes, public interests override private interest and that should be the light in which this matter should be viewed. Though the pictures were in bad taste, the message behind the pictures was meant to seek a reaction and consequent solution from the authorities towards a solution to the nurses and health worker's strike," they stated. "We are concerned that the precedence set by this arrest and subsequent charging of Ms Chansa Kabwela will set a bad precedence of past eras where if a person reported to the Police that he/she had come across a dead body then he would be the first suspect the police would question as a sad development because this kind of approach to sensitive matters will hinder whistle blowers as the same standard would be applied to them."

They further noted that this trend would breed more corruption, which government was grappling with in the Ministry of Health and many other sectors.

"We appeal to the government and legislators to ensure that they do away with laws that have been in existence since colonial days or the 1930s. It’s amazing that Zambia has been a democratic country for about 18 years but is still very happy to be guided by colonial laws that were meant to suppress indigenous Zambians."

Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, COURTS, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 3:29 PM