Maravi

‘Dr Musonda’s shooting was an overzealous act’

‘Dr Musonda’s shooting was an overzealous act’
By Mwala Kalaluka in Kabwe
Wed 29 Dec. 2010, 04:01 CAT

A senior Serenje police officer told the Kabwe High Court that Dr Solomon Musonda’s shooting of a PF cadre in Chitambo Constituency was an overzealous and excitement-driven act.

Testifying in the matter where former health deputy minister and Chitambo MMD parliamentarian, Dr Musonda is before the court for shooting a PF cadre Jackson Musaka, Serenje district police officer commanding Daniel Museteka yesterday said the Browning pistol alleged to have been used was acquired 11 days before the shooting incident.

Museteka, a police officer with 26 years experience, made the statement during cross-examination by defence lawyers Sunday Nkonde and Rabson Malipenga but judge Mungeni Mulenga classified the assertion as an opinion when the matter went into re-examination.

In his evidence in chief led by acting senior state advocate Mwendabai Mwalusi, Museteka said Dr Musonda called him on June 1, 2010 around 19:00 hours to inform him that he had shot a PF cadre.
Museteka said he met Dr Musonda at Pensulo, where he explained what led to the shooting and offered his vehicle to enable the police go to the crime scene.

“Upon reaching the scene of the incident, we did not see any logs as alleged by the Honourable,” Museteka said.

He said after analysing the scene, he asked Dr Musonda to surrender his firearm and recorded a warn and caution statement from him the next day. Museteka said the firearm allegedly used in the shooting of Musaka was a Browning pistol with eight rounds of ammunition and police officers that visited the scene found one used cartridge.

Museteka said he ordered that a docket for attempted murder be opened over the shooting incident but Dr Musonda was arrested on a different charge in Lusaka where he was residing.
In cross-examination, Museteka said there was no hostility from the youths prior to the shooting incident to the extent that Dr Musonda was not injured in any way and his vehicle was dent-free.
“As far as I am concerned, the youths were not violent,” he said. “If I was biased, the Director of Public Prosecutions would not have given consent for the prosecution of Dr Musonda.”

He said he did not get a statement from Musaka because he was in a critical condition at the time.
Museteka, who claimed to have a cordial relationship with Dr Musonda, said the youths that blocked the parliamentarian on June 1, 2010 after he addressed meetings in Chitambo were from the PF, MMD and others were non-partisan.

Museteka disputed assertions by the defence that he was a PF sympathiser and that was why an MMD member like Dr Musonda was in court when the PF cadres who equally broke the law were not.

He said Dr Musonda broke the law first by holding meetings in his constituency without a permit and the shooting incident could not have happened.

“What led to the shooting was excitement because he had only owned the gun for less than two weeks. Any person who obtains a new thing becomes overzealous,” Museteka said. “In fact, the first person who broke the law was the honourable because he never obtained a permit. He is a lawbreaker.”

Museteka said the act by the youths to demand money from Dr Musonda was unlawful.
Meanwhile, judge Mulenga said she did not understand why the defence was focusing on the PF cadres when the witness had said the youths were from different political parties.

Labels: CADRES, MMD, PF, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, SOLOMON MUSONDA

posted by MrK @ 4:32 PM