THE Lusaka High Court has upheld the five year jail sentences slapped on former Finance Minister Katele Kalumba and three others saying their activities were tinted with corrupt practices.
Judge Evans Hamaundu sitting with High Court Judge-in-Charge Jane Kabuka said the subordinate court could not be faulted for slapping a custodial sentence against the four because they were guilty of the offences.
Katele, former directors of the defunct Access Financial Services Limited (AFSL) Faustin Kabwe and Aaron Chungu and former Finance Permanent Secretary Stella Chibanda had appealed against the five-year jail sentence on grounds that the lower court had erred both in law and facts when it found them guilty of the offences.
They were jointly charged with several abuse of office and corrupt related charges but facing different counts.
In a more than five hour majority judgment prepared together with Judge Nigel Mutuna, Mr Justice Hamaundu said suspending, reducing or acquitting the quartet as they had contended in their grounds of appeal would be sending a wrong message to would be offenders.
“The appeal conviction against the first appellant is dismissed, the appeal conviction against the fifth appellant is dismissed, the appeal conviction against the sixth appellant is dismissed and also the appeal conviction against the seventh appellant is also dismissed, “Mr Justice Hamaundu said.
He said the corruption prevalence in Zambia was on the increase and as such the reason for slapping a custodian sentence was to discourage would be offenders or to stop the accused persons from committing similar offences.
He said in a packed courtroom that the lower court could not be faulted in its findings because the punishment fitted the offences that the appellants had committed.
Mr Justice Hamaundu said that it would not be in public interest to issue the four with a suspended sentence because it would send a wrong signal to would be offenders.
He said the lower court was on firm ground when it convicted Katele, Chungu, Kabwe and Chibanda of the charges.
Judge Hamaundu has meanwhile granted Katele, Chungu, Kabwe and Chibanda permission to appeal against his decision to dismiss their appeal against their five years convictions.
Immediately after judgment was delivered, one of the defence lawyers Vincent Malambo informed the court that the four appellants were making an application to appeal to the Supreme Court against the judgment based on the provisions of section 14 (1) of the Supreme Act.
Mr Malambo said Katele, Chungu, Kabwe and Chibanda had no intentions to be engaging in the court walk about business but had strong issues that they want to be addressed by the highest court of the land.
But before Mr Malambo could go in detail divulging the issues, Mr Justice Hamaundu informed him that the court was not inclined to refusing the application to appeal to the Supreme Court against yesterday’s judgment.
Ha ha ha , abe na K, even after aligning with PF and heaping all sorts of praise on ba Sata, they are still sending you in? Too bad my brother, try the Supreme court, we have one of us in charge. Appeal fastele fastele bosses.
If that fails, hold a press conference and denounce ba Sata and PF. Yes if you have to go down , you need to go down fighting.
Terrible news for our family
He is father’s cousin, terrible, my stomach is churning listening to this. I was just telling my fiance Nick, he thinks our system is corrupt.
Please appeal Uncle Kalumba
The majority of zambians are with you.
Thanks
Haaa Mushota you might be, Remmy Mushota’s daughter. No wonder we have something in common.
I am confused, does this mean Ba Katele will go to jail again?
No one is above the LAW. He has to face it and he has to go in. What is so special about him? He plundered the tax payers’ money. So let him go and work for the BOMA period.
Mushota, five years is not long. He will be alright. Just be sending him some presents in Chimbokaila, utumachokoleti natu seefood.
He he he he! Koma chawama sana ichi mwe. bakabwalala babakaka
Don’t feed the troll!!
Hang the corrupt bastards
Our judiciary has sent numerous signals that the only crime is getting caught – Kapoko and others who are running around free are beneficiaries of this inconsistency of justice.
It is however interesting to see some justice, albeit delayed with the likes of Katele Kalumba and cohorts. Five years is small time considering it should have been 10 years. Be grateful !mbeciles
Laudable decision by the judges
This case is not going anywhere. They will be free in the long run. It is just a gimmick that they will be convicted but the supreme court will find some reason to let them free or suspended sentence
Katele will use his magic.
He can’t, this time he is going to dance to the LAW. If anything, he was suppose to go in for 10 years.
5 yrs from day of arrest
Kekekeke
He is suppose to in for 10 years.
If you do the crime you gotta be prepared to do the time.
Please please excuse me.Don’t touch the anointed…or face a plague or calamity.
We have now devised black thunder drones that you can’t contend with.
Save your lives…..release my subjects pliz napapata.
Sad indeed.I feel bad that my mentor Katele is about to go in.Hope he will appeal soon coz he is doing a good job in Chiengi.
Nomba yama ubwanga twaumfwene chalaba shani ? Ine ndalila ifyaifi.Lol
hahahah….katele your mentor?,,,, please share some tricks on how to hide in a rat hole…..
Yes ndobo he is.Lol
hahahah….katele your mentor?,,,, please share some tricks on how to hide in a rat hole…..
I hope PF is learning from this?
I BET THEY ARE NOT BEHIND BARS RIGHT NOW,
BY THE TIME THE CASE IS HEARD IN THE SUPREME COURT, FIVE YEARS WILL HAVE ELAPSED AND THEY WILL GO SCOT FREE.
IT PAYS TO HAVE MONEY TO ENGAGE EXPENSIVE LAWYERS.
They must have run real broke.
Chabipa mwandi shikulu Natende Walushiba. Ngobwilile tukasefya shani nomba?
I am sure they all wish Judge Musonda was handling this one. Sorry guys. PF take note, it may not be much of a judicial system, but when not in power it can bite.
Custodial sentence should not be given out until there are proper custodial
facilities. Zambian so called prisons are worse than Hitlers concentration camps
in discomfort , and still worse in filth.
This filth reflects the state of mind of the people who send fellow humans there. There is no intention to correct a person , but to dehumanise him.
Zambian judges and magistrates are dirty scum.
lusakatime am clement chibawa,are you the victim of state hacking?
As for Katele and gang rot in jail,and do not defer your sentence by appealingnow but serve it .
Fellow Zambians,have head alot of such pronouncements are such thugs caged in prison or they go around freely?
You happy with Katele going in but you were busy condeming pf mps on lifting RB’s immunity, Y do you people fail to stick to principles? Double standards will take you nowhere. I hope you’ll say the same to NM and RB’s conviction next time ka!
This name and address appeared in my Reply box. I am not Ntalanda Vingi. What’s going on?
Ntalanda you’ve been hijacked! I can see your email address too.