Kasama Central Member of Parliament (MP) Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba yesterday appeared in the Lusaka Magistrate Court where he pleaded not guilty to one count of assault.
Mwamba, 55, clad in a black suit arrived at Magistrate Court Complex accompanied by his wife Chama in his beige BMW that being driven by Alliance for Better Zambia (ABZ) leader, Frank Bwalya.
The former defence minister took plea before Magistrate Prince Mwiinga.
Particulars are that Mwamba a business executive cum politician of 10 Roan road in Lusaka’s Kabulonga area did assault, his operations manager at Arizona Marketing, Collins Mudai thereby occasioning him actual bodily harm on May 14 this year.
Earlier, Chief Resident Magistrate, Joshua Banda allocated the matter to senior magistrate Mwaka Mikalile who recused herself immediately Mwamba stepped into the dock.
Mwamba again re-appeared before Mr Banda who allocated the case to Mr Mwiinga where the accused took plea in a packed courtroom.
State prosecutor Conrad Milimo told the court that the accused was before court and the state was ready to proceed with plea.
Magistrate Mwiinga read the charge against Mwamba and asked him if he understood the details of the case.
The matter had since been adjourned to June 26 this year.
Outside court, Mwamba challenged the police to explain why they have delayed to arrest Mr Mudai for forgery which he reported on May 14 this year.
Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga said in an interview that the case needed proper investigations and to subject the forged signature to hand writing experts.
Meanwhile the former Defence Minister said he is not a criminal for armed police to search for him in the manner they are did.
Mr Mwamba said that he was not a danger to society and had communicated to his lawyers about re-scheduling a meeting with police over the alleged assault case because he was attending to other pressing issues.
He said that it was unfortunate that police wanted to create an impression that he was a criminal who had gone into hiding when they were aware of the communication.
According to officers close to the investigations, police have been under political pressure from leaders in the PF to arrest GBM using the excuse of assaulting his former employee who until recently worked as Logistics Officer at Arizona.
“We were just ordered to search for him on Saturday, actually we were directed that we should arrest him on Friday so that he spends the whole long weekend in detention but that failed because some people informed him and that is how we re-directed our plan to have him picked up in the morning of Saturday,” said the officers.
On Saturday, a platoon of 11 armed police officers raided Mr. Mwamba’s house in Kabulonga residential area in unclear circumstances in an alleged assault case.
Cage him. We want Wynter as President.
Not in our lifetime. We will cage all these cretins when we come to power!!
So the ambition of UPND is to cage all so called “cretin” when you come to power? That is really exposing your evil intention before time is ripe.
What?? Fr. Bwalya was driving bima for GBM?
I am now in the ABZ!!
Mwamba says, ‘he is not a criminal for him to be searched for by armed police in the manner they did’. The same Mwamba when he was a very powerful PF defence minister ordered the ZAF to threateningly fly military aircraft low over innocent and unarmed Lozi villagers. What crime had they committed? Now he is crying foul yet it is his kith and kin dishing it out to him.
I have no sympathy for this corrupt man!!
Have sympathy for yourself
Cage the Kwacha not GBM rate now 7.4 to us$
free man is gbm.
The whole media is plastered with politics yet nothing on future planning or economic stabilization
The Law, why are you surprised? Can you name one editor or journalist of any Zambian media outlet, public or private; capable of understanding, let alone interpreting even the most rudiment of anything economic? It’s too hard on their brains, bro! But when it comes to covering political violence and a.s.s-kissing, well, there ain’t nobody in this whole wide world better than a Zambian “journalist”!
Our police are busy harassing citizens instead of protecting them and insuring low and order. PF has failed miserably and they have to waste their time hunting those they perceive enemies. Time is the master and surely it is just a matter of time before they face the same harassing! If only civil servants were professional in the manner they conduct their businesses, Zambia would have been a better place.
My favourite GBM quote is “tendalama shakwa noko ishi iwe chik****a.” This guy is hilarious if only you know him on a personal level.
How can obscene language and blatant insults by an adult and supposedly national leader be hilarious? By the way it could be cultural just like wife battery as described by GBM himself.
If Fr Bwalya is driving GBM’s BMW then i am driving MY Bugatti Veyron!!!
Fr Bwalya was that a kind gesture, or should we read the fine print. GBM is “ruff kid” or a ‘ Yo bally”. He is testing PF to the extreme, which Kabimba would not do. Mulongoti should have been in the entourage too.