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Magistrate Kafunda counsels defence, prosecution teams in Kabwela’s case

Magistrate Kafunda counsels defence, prosecution teams in Kabwela’s case
Written by George Chellah and Mwala Kalaluka
Wednesday, September 09, 2009 6:19:53 PM

LUSAKA chief resident magistrate Charles Kafunda yesterday advised the defence and the prosecution team in the Chansa Kabwela case to approach the proceedings in an objective manner and concentrate on the main issues before the court. This was after defence lawyer George Chisanga complained that the state seemed to be raising unnecessary objections.

This is in a matter where Post news editor Kabwela is charged with one count of circulating obscene matters or things tending to corrupt public morals contrary to the Laws of Zambia.

Chisanga said the defence needed to be given leeway to ask questions to witnesses during cross-examination.

"We ask that may we also be protected like the state," Chisanga said.

Chisanga's complaint prompted magistrate Kafunda to ask whether he was suggesting that the court was not protecting the defence.

But Chisanga insisted that the court might be deviated by the numerous objections from the state.

Lusaka division prosecutions officer Frank Mumbuna argued that the state would definitely come in to protect its witnesses.

"I do not find myself contravening any procedures on objections," Mumbuna said.

But magistrate Kafunda ruled that he found the statement by the defence very unfortunate.

"We must be very objective. All objections raised by the state have been addressed. To suggest that the objections are irrelevant it's unfortunate. Let's approach these proceedings in an objective manner," magistrate Kafunda said. "Let's concentrate on the main issues before the court. May I appeal again...to both parties for you to re-focus."

Magistrate Kafunda advised both the defence and prosecution team to make written submissions at the close of the trial as opposed to viva voce [oral] submission, which he had earlier directed at the opening of the trial.

And testifying in the same case was Sharon Cheelo Zulu, the arresting officer, who told the court that she was assigned by her supervisors in the police service to investigate the matter.

"I executed my investigations and went as far as the office of the Ministry of Health who was one of the recipients. At the Ministry of Health, I discovered that on 11th June 2009 the secretary to the Minister of Health a Mrs Claire Kalunga received the letter with pictures that where circulated to the minister. I interviewed the secretary to the minister in relation to the pictures that she received on behalf of the minister and she confirmed having received those pictures from The Post," Zulu said.

"I asked her how the letter including the pictures where...she told me it was in an envelope addressed to the minister of health. As secretary, she opened the letter on behalf of the minister to file on behalf of the minister. She told me further that when she opened the letter, she was quite shocked with what she saw. She screamed, according to her, and at that time the minister was not in the office. She was in a confused state, she didn't know what to do. In that confused state of her mind she just stamped the letter and filed. She realised that the minister was not around and she thought of the next senior-most person. She was quite shocked, she just stamped on the letter, took the letter with pictures to the office of the permanent secretary."

Zulu told the court that the author of the letter addressed to Vice-President George Kunda was Chansa Kabwela.

"I was given three photographs. I checked and I saw the three pictures. I had never seen such pictures, I continued checking with a shock of course," she said.

Zulu said she was quite affected when she saw the pictures.

"I really thought as a woman my pride has been taken away. So I really felt my pride was moved away from me as a woman," he said.

Zulu, who described the pictures to the court, said she felt assaulted and touched by the pictures.

She further explained that she went to the office of Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Joshua Kanganja, another recipient of the letter in question.

"I interviewed Mrs [Nawina] Hagwagwa, she confirmed to have received the letter with the pictures in it. She mentioned that she was quite disturbed. After collecting the pictures and letter, I went to the Office of the Vice-President," she said.

Zulu said she was received at the Vice-President's office by his senior special assistant Kenneth Ngosa.

She explained that Ngosa could not submit the pictures to Vice-President Kunda immediately because he could not find a way of doing that as the images were something forbidden to be shown to the public.

"In the Zambian setup going by our culture, we don't expose a woman giving birth like the way it is now. It's something that deserves privacy for a woman," she said.

She said Ngosa was equally shocked with what he saw.

Zulu said apart from the letter to Vice-President Kunda, there was also an apologetic letter from The Post.

Zulu told the court that she came across the name Marian Munyinda [NGOCC board chairperson] when she was at the office of the Secretary to the Cabinet.

Earlier, magistrate Kafunda told Kabwela's lawyers that it was his preserve to determine the relevance of documentation before court in relation to the charge.

During continued trial in the morning, Chisanga asked handwriting expert Philby Kaoma, 48, what the relevance of the documentation that he had brought to the court was in relation to the charge Kabwela was faced with.

But Mumbuna objected Chisanga's line of cross- examination arguing that Kaoma as a witness could not usurp the court's role in determining the relevance of the documents that he had produced.

Chisanga responded that the question was fundamental to the charge.

But magistrate Kafunda ruled that the issue of determining the relevance of the documentation was for the court.

Chisanga also asked Kaoma if it was put to him that Kabwela was facing a charge of forgery and he responded that there was no such a thing.

Magistrate Kafunda also asked the defence lawyers not to mistake the term dispute that Kaoma had mentioned during his evidence, because it was used in a technical sense.

He explained that the term did not entail that the accused person had disputed the signatures and writings on the documents.

This was after another defence lawyer Remmy Mainza, asked Kaoma to state what he would do should he find that Kabwela did not dispute that the signatures and writings on the two letters addressed to Vice-President Kunda and NGOCC chairperson and a khaki envelope addressed to Dr Kanganja were hers.

Kaoma, as assistant superintendent at the forensic questioned document examination section of the Zambia Police, told the court that he received a letter from the arresting officer in the matter in July this year, requesting him to undertake investigations on the documents.

Asked to reveal who disputed the documents, Kaoma said it was the arresting officer but that as a handwriting expert, he did not examine the dispute but the issues raised.

He said his duty was to interpret the facts.

Kaoma said he did not include the letter from the arresting officer in his final report because that was not the procedure in their line of duty.

Kaoma, testified that he made a conclusive finding that Kabwela authored the signatures and writings on some disputed documents he was requested to examine.

Kaoma said during his evidence in chief that after examining the signatures and writings on the two letters and the envelope, he compared them to the signatures on Kabwela's account records from Barclays Bank Zambia.

He said his final conclusion was that the signatures and the writings were genuine and that they were Kabwela's.

He further said even the signatures on the documents from the bank were genuine.

"It is written by the same lady, your honour," Kaoma said.

Kaoma said although the equipment that he used in his forensic investigation was manual, it was nevertheless reliable.

The matter was adjourned to September 14, 2009 for continued trial.

Labels: CHANSA KABWELA, CHARLES KAFUNDA, COURTS, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 5:22 PM