Maravi

Petition witness recounts Dora's ‘sex' campaign

Petition witness recounts Dora's ‘sex' campaign
By Mwala Kalaluka
Thu 12 Jan. 2012, 13:58 CAT

DORA Siliya on Tuesday limped out of the Lusaka High Court after an electoral petition witness recounted how she engaged in a ‘sex' campaign during last year's general election.

And two State Counsels on different sides of the Petauke Central electoral petition hearing reacted angrily to each other on Tuesday over the difference between a DVD Digital Versatile Disc and a Compact Disc CD.

This is in a case where losing PF parliamentary candidate in last September's election, Leonard Banda has challenged the election of MMD's Siliya, the former education minister, in the Lusaka High Court.

Siliya, who was last week admitted to Lusaka's Fairview Hospital for an unknown health condition, is facing arrest by law enforcement agencies over her role in the dubious sale of Zamtel's 75 per cent shares to LAP GreenN of Libya when she was Minister of Transport and Communications.

And when the petition case came up for continued hearing before High Court judge Charles Kajimanga, Post photojournalist Joseph Mwenda told how he covered Siliya's campaigns in Petauke Central, where she described the PF's Michael Sata as a homosexual advocate.

Mwenda said, as Siliya fixed her gaze on him from the public gallery, that the then MMD parliamentary aspirant urged men to admire her bums and not to admire each others' beards.

Mwenda said on September 8, 2011, he covered the public rally Siliya addressed at Minga Stop Basic School in the company of her assistant, Precious Zulu.

"She also told the audience that the opposition PF was being led by a man who was advocating for homosexuality," Mwenda said.

"She also told the people that this particular man who was heading the Patriotic Front would get the youths, if he won the elections, and take them to Afghanistan to take part in the war there."

Mwenda said Siliya told the crowd that the PF candidate, Banda, was following his party leader's advocacy for homosexuality.

He confirmed that he was the author of the story that appeared in the Saturday Post of September 10, 2011 under the headline, ‘My ex-husband was lazy in bed'.

"She asked the people if they were not admiring her breasts and if they were admiring each other's beards," Mwenda said.

"And Siliya called on her audience to admire her beauty and not each other because the Laws of Zambia prohibited homosexuality."

He said Siliya said men should be able to enjoy the pleasure of touching a woman's soft bums.

"You women, can you get pregnant from a fellow woman?" Mwenda quoted Siliya as asking.

He said at another public rally held at Chinsonso Basic School, Siliya continued saying that people should not vote for Banda, the PF candidate, because he did not give them things as she did.

Mwenda said Siliya told the audience that the PF campaign slogan of ‘Don't Kubeba' meant homosexuality and tujilijili.

And during the hearing, lead counsel for the petitioner Bonaventure Mutale and the lead counsel on Siliya's side, Eric Silwamba lost their cool over the form of presentation of audio recordings from Siliya's three public rallies.

Silwamba said during the inter-party discovery of the audio recording, his law firm was meant to listen to a recording contained on a CD and not the DVD Mutale was trying to avail to Mwenda.

He said his team had not had an opportunity to inspect the DVD but Mutale wondered why Silwamba was being unreasonable over the device containing the audio recordings.

However, Silwamba retorted that his team had been magnanimous in their work and that they could not be paid back in that manner.

"We equally have been magnanimous," Mutale replied. "We don't owe anyone any charity."

Hearing continues.

Labels: DORA SILIYA, LAP GREEN, ZAMTEL

posted by MrK @ 7:26 PM