A WITNESS has told the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court that he was threatened and intimidated by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigators to testify against former Ministry of Health human resources and development officer Henry Kapoko and 10 others accused of theft.
Gift Kamwala, assistant accountant at the Ministry of Health, claimed that Gibson Chizanga and Oscar Chipoka, investigators from ACC, threatened to lock him up if he refused to testify against Kapoko and his co-accused.
Mr Kamwala, who is a State witness, was testifying in a trial within a trial, in a matter in which Kapoko and his co-accused are charged with theft, theft by public servant and money laundering involving over K6 billion.
A trial within a trial came about after Essau Banda, one of the accused persons, objected to arresting officer Lazarus Chiponda’s attempt to submit into evidence a warn and caution statement allegedly obtained from him after being intimidated, threatened and induced.
“In fact, the court should know that throughout the interviews at ACC, the threats have always been that they would get my properties and arrest me if I don’t testify against Kapoko,” he said.
Mr Kamwala said in examination-in-chief led by defence lawyer Kelvin Bwalya that he was summoned to the ACC offices on several occasions in an attempt to solicit information from him which would implicate Kapoko and others.
He said investigators wanted him to give a statement that Kapoko gave him money, part of which he used to build a house and to buy a motor vehicle.
Mr Kamwala said each time he was called to appear before the investigators, he feared that he would be arrested because it was indicated that he would be arrested and be put in custody if he did not testify against Kapoko.
He said a warn and caution statement was administered to him after he refused to testify according to the investigators’ instructions.
He said it is not true that he begged with the investigator to become a State witness so that he could implicate Kapoko and others because it is the investigators who took him to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Magistrate Exornobit Zulu adjourned the matter to October 8 for a ruling on the trial within a trial.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
This is getting old..
Throw the whole case out. Declare a mistrial and let them walk. If the prosecution can’t do their job, and instead opt to fabricate evidence, that is laziness. You shouldn’t convict people based on a lie.Â
it appears the witness has been paid a lot of money by the defence so he can distroy the prosecution’s case.
I thought this case was long concluded. From 2008 still talking about the same case. Rubbish system.
Now that Kapoko’s relatives and friends are in government, the case will collapse.
Interesting thing is that The Post newspaper has never taken interest in this case! Mmmm! One wonders why?
This is why in the West, investigative interviews are recorded. It is high time this was introduced in Zambia.
Prisons are for the cashless…..Big money, money destroys Justice, its a class society. Kapoko, no case to answer-then sue that useless ACC for more govt money on top of the billions already stolen govt money. Will not be surprised. shame on our governance structure(Poor constitution-useless constitutional offices)
THIS CASE WAS OBVIOUSLY RECORDED. SO, JUST REPLAY THE TAPES ON WHICH THE CASE WAS RECORDED. IF IT WASN’T RECORDED THERE MUST BE A SERIOUS GROSS NEGLIGENCE OF DUTY ON THE PART OF INVESTIGATOR AND IT MUST BE DEALT WITH DISMISSALS OF INVESTIGATING BOSSES.
You fellows did steal; you stole big time. Mwilaakana ubufi.
Mushota I wrote to you yesterday asking for your hand in marriage. I like your comments and you are my idol. Never mind about Dirty Zambia. I am also in the Daispora with no intention of going back to a place full of flies
“Mr Kamwala said each time he was called to appear before the investigators, he feared that he would be arrested because it was indicated that he would be arrested and be put in custody if he did not testify against Kapoko”. This chap is guilty already, why fear to be detained if you have no case to answer? This is not secondary school you dull chap. your monouvers will not yield results because the evidence is overwhelming. Coz of you idiots global fund even had to withdraw funding and th government had to pay. Then you farts want to play victim. FuseKK.
Do the prosecutors don’t feel ashamed of themselves, worse of their careers when they fell to prosecute obvious cases?
We are watching.
How did a simple case of theft become so complicated?
# 2 There is evidence of Kapoko having abused his post and theft of defraud is there to prove. The result of the fraud led to suspension of donor aid to the ministry of health, this is also true to donors their funds were being misappropiated through fraud. Zambia is playing semantics on law and fight on corruption. The world will never take Zambians seriously with your kind of thinking to dismiss clear cases of corruption. Zambians are watching these events uunder the watch of PF govt.
Where is Bulaya kanshi mwebantu?