Maravi

Judge urges closure of prosecution in Dr Musonda’s case

Judge urges closure of prosecution in Dr Musonda’s case
By Mwala Kalaluka in Kabwe
Sat 01 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT

A High Court judge says she expects the state to close their prosecution of the case where Dr Solomon Musonda is charged with the shooting of a PF cadre by next Friday. And a senior police officer says there was only one incident of violence in the by-election where Dr Musonda was elected member of parliament for Chitambo in 2009.

Kabwe High Court judge Mungeni Mulenga made the remarks during the hearing of the case where Dr Musonda, former health deputy minister and MMD Chitambo parliamentarian, is in court for shooting and injuring a PF cadre from his constituency.

Judge Mulenga adjourned the matter to January 7, 2011.

“The matter has been adjourned to 7th January, hopefully it will be the close of the prosecution case,” judge Mulenga said after two police officers had testified in the matter.

But defence lawyer Sunday Nkonde asked if they could also be availed copies of the video footage of the scene where Dr Musonda shot 25-year-old Jackson Musaka in Serenje’s Lubembe area using a Browning pistol in June last year.

In response, acting senior state advocate Mwendabai Mwalusi said the state was already in the process of availing copies of the video footage to the defence. The footage was filmed by police officers investigating the shooting.

And Serenje district police officer commanding, Daniel Museteka said in his testimony that if Dr Musonda had fired in the air as he claimed, he would not have ended up shooting Musaka.

This was during cross-examination in the matter led by defence lawyer Rabson Malipenga.

“Record enhancement shows that your client owned a gun for 11 days (from May 19, 2010) and on the 12th day (June 1, 2010), he shot a person,” Museteka said in response to Malipenga’s assertion that he was a liar. “According to him he fired in the air. He fired in the air and one (bullet) directed to a person who was shot because if he fired in the air it wouldn’t have actually shot a person.”

Museteka said he handled Dr Musonda’s case in a very neutral and professional manner.

He said hours before the shooting incident, they had shared a light moment with Dr Musonda at a council guest house in Serenje where the parliamentarian informed him that he wanted to build a police post at Chalilo using Constituency Development Fund (CDF) money.

Museteka said the youths that stopped Dr Musonda on his way from addressing two rallies were defenceless and that they were just reasoning with him.

In continued cross-examination led by Sunday Nkonde, Museteka said he did not receive a report of Dr Musonda’s vehicle being blocked during the Chitambo by-election.

He said there was only once incident of violence which occurred at Mukando turn-off where two people were trying to size each up and that the campaign itself was peaceful.

Museteka said the media exaggerated the reports of violence in the by-election.

During the Chitambo by-election, Mbala MMD parliamentarian Gaston Sichilima got embroiled in a fight with a UNIP cadre but now turned MMD cadre, at Mukando turn-off.

Labels: COURTS, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, SOLOMON MUSONDA

posted by MrK @ 9:53 PM