Kabimba (left) and Lusaka Mayor Mulenga Sata as he left the Lusaka
High Court
Acting Chief Justice Lombe Chibesakunda has been called upon to appoint a commission of inquiry or tribunal to determine the circumstances that led President Michael Sata to temper with his immunity by testifying in a court of law.
On Wednesday the 21st of May, President Sata testified in a matter in which he has sued Daily Nation newspaper for defamation.
A senior Blind Citizen Elijah Ngwale said that the action by President Sata to tamper with his immunity as he will now be cross examined by the defense is uncalled for and dangerous for a sitting President.
Mr. Ngwale told Qfm news that what happened on Wednesday the 21st of May was also of unprecedented magnitude and gravity considering the position that Mr. Sata holds of being the country’s Head of State and commander in chief of the armed forces.
He said this is why the Acting Chief Justice should appoint either a commission of inquiry or a tribunal to ascertain the circumstances that the led to such an action by the Head of State.He said in the interim there should be a reshuffle at State House. Mr. Ngwale said this is in order to appoint new office bearers that can wisely advise the President and therefore avoid such a trend of allowing the Head of State to make wrong decisions.
Meanwhile former Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) Executive Director Bishop Paul Mususu also observed that it is unacceptable for President Sata to appear in court against a citizen.
Bishop Mususu said he finds it shocking that President Sata personally appeared in the High Court to testify in case in which he sued the Daily Nation Newspaper and its proprietor Richard Sakala.
He has said that it would have been better for President Sata to allow for his immunity to be waived before going to court to testify against the newspaper.
Bishop Mususu noted that the action by the Head of State has lead to people wondering what sort of advisers the president has.
The fact that something is unprecedented does not necessarily make it wrong. It may be shocking by its rarity but is it outlawed or is it illegal for him to do so? That is the question. I would love to hear from the legal brains on this one, not this emotional ranting we have had for a while now.
The laws we have,were inherited from the colonial era.White men were given a lot of powers over a large population of Africans.Life could be made easy or difficult for Africans at the whim of a single white man.The gravest mistake we made at independence was continuing with these laws. The flaws were not prominent when we had ‘good’ men in power.The flaws are glaring under SATA.We can see the way he sends the police to harass anyone he deems an enemy.We have seen the wastage with by elections,and bribes to increase PF seats in parliament.Now He reigns supreme and because of his callous,abrasive nature he is carrying out unprecedented acts.Zambia needed a man like Sata to wake us up from our slumber…In 10years time our Laws will be good because of the mistakes we have learnt from Sata.
mwebantu…… tribunal! for what? at the moment there is a total breakdown of everything in Zambia,,,, otubreak of kaswende in choma,,, shortage of fuel in kasama,,,, the president in person harrassing judges and witnesses,,,, in the process the president forgets he`s age,,,,, the kwacha is refusing to hold up against the dollar as long as chikwanda is in charge,,, awe shuwa the list is endnes
It’s not illegal but it sets bad precedence. Also, since the president has full immunity from prosecution it’s an uneven contest. Therefore, it’s only right to relinquish his immunity when attending court to level things. Also if during cross examination the president refuses to answer some question, he may be liable for contempt and face jail time. Now, am sure you have a brain sir, can you now see the implications of this unwise act?
@Ndobo, what has Miko Charles Sata’s outing has to do with Kaswende outbreak in the country? That is too much of lamentation. I am suing Charles for trespassing in public.
Arrest whoever is Justice Minister who wrongly advised the victim.
I am sure Mumba Malila is so mad, that it will be his job to clean-up all this messy from State house.
@ex-moms you have brought out an aspect that has actually stagnated and failed many an African country. I will keep saying that we are paying MPs to sleep in parliament while we tango with NGOs and opposition parties on the street thinking that will improve our lot. We must direct our wrath at parliamentarians for once. They are the ones we have elected to change our laws, not NGOs.
@kalok one way of doing this is changing the constititution and or laws governing parliamentarians. But we’ve reached a stalemate over the constitution.As people like holding on to power.I’m not sure what other way Zambians can use to address this
Good view point ex moma. The truth of the matter there is nothing wrong with what HE President Sata has done. The only problem is that he has opened up his office to a level he may not fully appreciate and this will be shown during cross examination. Recall cross examination has not limits and hence any topic will be touched, in other words he will be in the hands of the defending team as the immunity during court seating will be lifted. This is not good for a president.
Not that the two cases can be compared, refer to Silver from Italy and what happened to him post court case. The country needs the president to be protected at all times with regards to court proceedings or appearing there in the first instance. Hopefully this helps you
Zed@crossroads, what you have said makes a lot of sense.
The difference between our state and other states is, here the presidency is a personal to holder position. In other states, the presidency is a state property – the person in that position tows the line of the state which is governed by rules of statecraft. Ba Sata ni ba munshebwa…..baile namatongolyo kubuko!
Am very sure mr sata could have been advised not to go ahead and testify but he could have ignored the advice.no wonder he cant make any changes at state house.
With Sata,anything is possible.You asked/voted for him,so be ready for all the embarrasments.With Sata one late prominent Lawyer said:The Consititution with Sata is just a piece of paper.You asked for it,so handle it.That is Sata for you.Or is it Charlie Cool Sexy for you.
He is a maverick. He walks on the fringes of society and law. I don’t believe he disregards the constitution; he pushes all the loopholes.
The question is: for what for?
President Chanda katongo Carlie Mubanga Chilufya Sexy Sata
The old man has made his bed let him sleep in it!!
Why is everyone surprised about Sata did! THE MAN IS SICK, PERIOD!
kicks of a dieing horse, is it? hahahahahaha…….. LOL
Are you mr sata’s Dr?
@Olas Mizi, Charles Mwango Katongo is a very sick man…..mentally and physically. Stop living in denial. We have no President. I am sure you’re one of the people who voted for MC Sata in 2011. Alas today you’ve ended up with a dude calling himself Charles Mwango Katongo…….names that were not on the ballot in 2011. Silu ni silu!
President Sata has good advisors and they do their jobs well. Charles Katongo ‘Uncle Charlie’ is not one who can listen 2 advice easily. Matter of fact, advice is not mandatory in terms of following it
Sata is showing Zambians how docile they are and dears anyone to challenge him. Nothing will stop this man from holding on to power at the next election. The more we entertain him, the more he behaves in a bizarre way. Zambia fasten your seat belts, bumpy ride still to come.
Life or health will. in fact it has already done so.
Mr. Ngwale obviously doesn’t know Chumbu Munshololwa Sata very well. The man simply doesn’t take advice from anyone. Just let him be grilled in court and see if they won’t discover he is a mad man after all. He behaves like a mad man it follows therefore that he is mad.
This country is full of educated fools thank God only a handfull of zambians have access to the net HH pipo muzalila come 2016 fools nangu mutukane tuleteka m******mwe stinking dogs
There you have it – a panga fighter responding like….. a panga fighter with insults and tribalist nonsense! It is not only our dear Katongo, Mwango Kays who is a Chumbu Munshololwa!
It will be a waste time and money. Sata is a senile old man. There is no fool like an old fool! You can’t fix old age.
“hh ****” don’t forget even illiterates are facing the hard ships of poor economical mismanagement. This will be the yard stick to gage the Ruling Party.
We need to know the real names and age of the president because going by history last time he gave differ details. So who exactly is he?
LT stop this nonsense of blocking my anti (HH) comments. ask the axis of tribalism Watchdog what happened when they went to tribal. there was an exodus of bloggers. so dont be funny we can move somewhere else.
can you be so cheap to be bought by (HH)?
Is this really a story? A “senior blind citizen Ngwale” states his opinion and it’s somehow a news story? Things are becoming strange in Zambia. Maybe one of our blog posts can be headline news
….tribunal ..what for..?..reshuffles of staff at state house.. what for..?..even if we had to hire those who advise Obama, they may resign within a week of being at state house. The court saga actually vindicates Fr Bwalya on his Kasama case.
The majority of our citizens just do not want to believe or accept that our old bally, our beloved President his excellence MCS is by nature a ‘difficult’ man{ba mudala baalishupa (in local language)} ask Mulenga or Mrs Kaseba… if u don’t do any wrong to him, he is a very very good man. Especially if u are a ‘yes bwana’..’yes bwana’, u will get along.
One of these days he may wake up only to declare the whole Zambia as a village and prefer to be addressed as Paramount Chief.. that way his actions wont be questioned, suspected or…
….won’t be suspected or condemned….
watching Joyce in Malawi i see Sata being in the same situation come 2016, when he finds himself losing, he gonna try to annulify elections when he has no powers to,Sata now even has powers to give himself extra names and change his age.
The problem in Zambia is that people are failing to understand the difference between the presidency as an institution and Sata as an individual. And this mainly due to low caliber individuals with questionable credentials acting as editors!
It is okay to attack Sata’s presidency on newspapers like they do it in USA and most European countries, but attacking Sata as an individual with fake information is bad journalism and Sata has every right to sue them as a citizen. People are talking about this case as if it is a criminal case, which is a mistake. We should be asking whether Sata as a sitting president has breached the constitution for suing a newspaper? At ICC, they try individuals not governments, MISA has take the blame, they should teach reporters not to be emotional but profess…
@MiG:
Yours is the only sensible, apolitical and mature comment so far, Kudos!!!
Do you remember the Bush and National Inquirer saga? Where they accused him of secretly drinking after he said he had stopped. This issue is very similar. This at worst can only be a PR disaster for the President.
How else was he going to make the headlines as Charles Katongo?
Since the witness has already lied under oath, is the court going to believe the witness?
A person leaves Malawi. Years later, bearing the same names, he comes back to lead Malawi to independence. Others believe it is not the same man.
Wee nta is scoring goals he has managed to distance the president from people capable of advsing H.E.lubinda,GBM,Sebastian Zulu would not have allowed this.Am jst watching the space.
Here a grande opportunity for the judge to make a mark in legal history of this country. THe defence also have an unusual opportunity to cross examine a sitting president. In the process carve a niche in the legal fraternity and win themselves more clients! This is an opportunity that can me “milked” to advantage, depending on which side one is!!!
ITS ILLEGAL FOR SATA MICHEAL TO WIAVE HIS PERSONLA IMMUNITY AS ASITTING PRESIDENT IN ORDER TO CHASE PAYMENT FROM A CITIZEN WHO IS CONTRIBUTING TO HIS MONTHLY SALARY THROUH TAXES.
WHETEHER THE LAW IS SILENT OR OR ACTIVE JUST FOR HIM BEING COVER BY THE IMMUNITY MAKES MORALLY WRONG FOR THE PRESIDENT TO USE HIS IMMUNITY WHEN IT SUITS AND WHEN HE CHOOSESTO AWAY WITH IMMUNITY. WHAT THIS ENTAILS IS THAT AS LONG AS SATA MICHEAL GOES TO ATTEND COURT ON HIS PRIVATE BUSIENESS HE SHOULD FOR LEAVE. PRESIDENT MICHEAL SATA CHILUFYA MUST NOT CLAIM HE IS COVERED BY IMMUNITY WHEN THE OTHER PARTY STARTS CROSS EXAMINING HIM. IS IMMUNITY IS NOT PUT ON LIKE AJACKET WHICH YOU CAN TAKE ON AND OFF A S THE WEATHER CHANGES. MY ADVISE IS THE JUSTICE MINISTER AND STATE HOUSE HANDLERS MUST FIRED FOR EMBARASSING…
From a legal standpoint Michael Chilufya Sata AND Michael Chilufya Charles Katongo Mwango are not the same person. As much as this has been a blunder because he is clearly not being advised properly, the person who took the stand to testify is not the same person who sits State House, there may be a legal loophole for him to get away with this BUT he should still be questioned about all those names that he provided. If they are not on his ‘reggie’ then he can be taken to task about a lot of things. He assumed office under false pretences, those should be grounds for impeachment. Yaba ba Sata, now you even have us common people with no legal background analyzing your case like we are taking a course at UNZA. Ni case study iyi!