Maravi

The pictures didn’t corrupt my morals, Dr Mtonga tells court

The pictures didn’t corrupt my morals, Dr Mtonga tells court
Written by Mwala Kalaluka
Saturday, August 29, 2009 7:32:26 PM

MINISTRY of Health permanent secretary Dr Velepi Mtonga yesterday said a picture that appeared in the Zambia Daily Mail of a simulated sexual act was capable of corrupting morals and not the 'labour' pictures sent to the ministry by Chansa Kabwela during the strike by health workers.

And Dr Mtonga testified that she did not think of having sex after she saw the pictures in question but that she was angry and shed tears.

During the continued hearing of the case where Post news editor Kabwela has been charged with one count of circulating obscene materials or things tending to corrupt public morals, Kabwela's lawyer George Chisanga, showed Dr Mtonga a copy of the Weekend Mail, a supplement of Zambia Daily Mail published on August 1, 2009, and asked her to describe one of the pictures.

Dr Mtonga, 51, said there was a man and a woman and that the man was on top of the woman.

"She is in a centre position," Dr Mtonga said. "The woman is on the floor and one leg is actually on the side and the man is on a middle position."

Dr Mtonga agreed that the two people were trying to simulate a sexual act.

"This one is likely to corrupt public morals than the picture [of the woman in labour]," Dr Mtonga said.

However, in reexamination Dr Mtonga said the people in the picture in the Weekend Mail were fully clothed and that there was no private part showing.

Earlier, during evidence in chief led by Lusaka division prosecution officer Frank Mumbuna, Dr Mtonga said the Ministry of Health had been holding a series of consultations on how to end the strike when the pictures were sent to her office.

She said health minister Kapembwa Simbao, who was in Namibia at the time, instructed her to deal with the pictures and the letter from The Post.

Dr Mtonga said she got the pictures and the letter from the secretary to the deputy minister of health.

Dr Mtonga said after reading the letter where The Post stated that the pictures could not be published, she went on to look at the said photos.

Dr Mtonga said she had no problem with two of the photos but that the other photo angered her.

"When I saw the second, I was actually so angry and I shed a tear. I hope the court will pardon me. I will not describe that picture," she said.

But Mumbuna said she had to describe the photos.

"That picture was showing a woman giving birth but showing all the private parts," said Dr Mtonga who has been a gynaecologist and obstetrics specialist for 26 years. "In the medical profession we are taught to actually keep the confidentiality and privacy of the patient."

Dr Mtonga said she shed a tear because she felt that women were so exposed and not protected, because the best one could do in such a situation was to cover the woman in labour.

She said even within the African culture, the best was to be humane enough and cover the woman.

"The natural reaction would be to cover the woman," she said. "It really disturbed me...I put myself in that woman's shoes."

Dr Mtonga said after recovering from the shock of seeing the photographs, certain ethical issues came to her mind and she instructed Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr Kamoto Mbewe to liaise with the Medical Council of Zambia on the matter.

Dr Mtonga said having dealt with women for many years, she was aware that childbirth was something they kept very private.

However, Dr Mtonga said during cross-examination by Remmy Mainza that her reaction was couched within the cultural context but that she did not become a bad person after seeing the photographs.

Mainza then asked Dr Mtonga whether or not she thought of having sex immediately after seeing the photograph but Dr Mtonga said she could not answer the question.

Mainza told Dr Mtonga that as a witness it was not within her ambit to raise objections and that if the question was not appropriate her competent prosecutors could make an objection.

"I am not in the position to answer the question," Dr Mtonga insisted.

Mainza then referred Dr Mtonga to section 116 of the Penal Code, which outlined the punitive measures that a witness who opts not to answer questions could suffer.

But Mumbuna objected, saying Mainza's citation of section 116 was misplaced because his question to Dr Mtonga was optional.

Mainza responded that the prosecution as well as the lawyers were all officers of the court and that no one was in the court to play games.

Magistrate Kafunda said the question was within the charge before the court and it would be proper for Dr Mtonga to respond.

Dr Mtonga then said the picture did not make her think of having sex.

Dr Mtonga said during further cross-examination by Chisanga that the pictures were sent to the Ministry of Health several days before the strike by the health workers was ended.

She said the countless meetings they had over the strike was aimed at addressing the desperate situation.

Dr Mtonga said ordinarily doctors in a country should not go on an illegal strike and that when such a thing happens the situation could be described as desperate.

Dr Mtonga said these consultations bore fruit because the illegal strike was finally brought to an end.

"That was several days after the letter arrived at the Ministry," she said. "The letter arrived at the Ministry within the period of the strike."

Dr Mtonga said it was difficult to tell where the woman was delivering from but that the first photograph showed that it was outside.

"It depends, which maternity ward you would be looking at," she said. "It does not show any midwife, unless they are putting on their own clothes."

Dr Mtonga said she instructed Dr Mbewe to liaise with the MCZ on the matter in order to establish whether the woman in the picture gave consent to have the photograph taken.

When Chisanga asked her if she would deal with the woman's husband should it be established that he was the one who took the photographs, Dr Mtonga said they would have a chat with him.

Meanwhile, Barclays Bank Southern Sun branch manager, Esther Mwanza told the court that there was no connection between the documents she had produced before the court and the charge slapped on Kabwela.

Mwanza, 41, a resident of Lusaka's Kaunda Square Stage Two, told the court during evidence in chief by the state that she was asked to give a statement on July 10, 2009 at Lusaka Central Police Station on matters relating to Kabwela's opening of an account with Barclays Bank.

"I did provide a statement. When I went to the police, I was shown a document. The document was the account opening mandate, which we used to open the account for Chansa Kabwela," she explained.

Mumbuna asked Mwanza if she mentioned a personal business application, as being among the documents, but Mwanza answered in the negative.

Mwanza said during cross-examination by Chisanga that she was not told the charge that Kabwela was facing when she gave the statement to the police.

"I became aware of the charge when I was asked to come as a witness," she said. "I was told I was going to know about it [charge] when I went to the police."

Chisanga then asked Mwanza if she was familiar with the duty of confidentiality in relation to the banking and financial services Act, which she owed her customers and she said she was aware.

"I consulted the legal counsel," Mwanza said. "I was acting on the basis of instructions from my employer."

Asked if Barclays Bank had instructed her to go to court and breach the duty of confidentiality and privacy she owed to her customers, Mwanza said she was instructed to give a statement to the police.

Mwanza said the documents that she was shown at the court were not different from the ones she had authorised and that she identified the signature because the documents were in the name of Chansa Kabwela.

When Mainza asked her to explain the relevance of the documents she had brought before the court and the case before it, Mwanza said there was no relationship.

"I can only say that the document is confirmation that the person is an employee of The Post," she said. "These documents are not connected. What I know is that these documents are connected to us opening an account for the customer at Barclays Bank."

The state then called their eighth witness, a handwriting expert, but before he could take the stand they applied for an adjournment because he was unwell.

The matter was adjourned to September 8, 2009 for continued trial.

Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, THE POST, VELEPI MTONGA

posted by MrK @ 6:34 PM