Jack Mwiimbu (right) outside Livingstone Magistrate Court
The Lusaka Magistrate’s Court has ordered United Party for National Development (UPND) leader, Hakainde Hichilema to appear in person in court in a matter in which he is facing a charge of defamation of the President.
Magistrate Boniface Mwiinga made the order yesterday when the matter came up for mention but Mr Hakainde was not in court and was only represented by his lawyers.
The State indicated that the accused person was not present in court for a mention but that his lawyers would represent him.
It was at this point that the magistrate refused to have the matter mentioned and ordered that the accused be present in court in the afternoon for a mention.
But by mid morning, Mr Hichilema arrived at the magistrate’s court with Mazabuka Member of parliament (MP) Garry Nkombo and other senior party officials.
This is in a case in which Hichilema is charged with defamation of the President, contrary to section 69 of the Penal Code chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.
Particulars of the offence are that Hichilema on January 13 last year in Lusaka with intent to bring the President into hatred, ridicule and contempt did publish defamatory statements.
He is reported to have accused President Sata of ordering the Anti-Corruption Commission to stop investigations against Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba, a story which was carried in the Daily Nation newspaper on January 14 this year.
The matter comes up on April 9 for trial.
Magistrate Mwiinga was informed that Mr Hichilema had arrived and the defence lawyer, Noah Dindi informed the court that following the order they had made efforts to contact their client who was attending a meeting at the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
Mr Dindi asked the magistrate to consider abridging the time and allow the matter to be called because they were all busy in the afternoon.
He said it was not the defence’s decision to make him stay away from court proceedings but had taken it for granted that since their client was allowed to stay away in the last mention, it would also be the same this time.
Another defence lawyer, Keith Mweemba apologised to the court on behalf of the bench saying it was not their intention to make the accused person stay away from court proceedings hence the reason for making quick arrangements for him to attend court.
In his ruling, Mr Mwiinga accepted the apology but advised the defence to ensure that Hichilema is present in court during hearing once trial commences to avoid unnecessary confusion.
“I hope that such incidences will not happen again during trial. I accept the apology from the defence team and ensure that you guide the court accordingly,” said magistrate Mwiinga.
He said lawyers and adjudicators were ministers of justice and it was therefore important that the law was followed.
We need to quit treating presdents as if they are some sort of deity.When the president is going to stop embarrassing all Zambians is of much higher concern.
This government does not want to answer for any wrong doing on their part, so the best they can do is gag their accusers so they don’t have to use the English language to defend themselves, they would rather use the instruments of power.
They are fast becoming experts at the administration of failure.
Sata can you please stop wasting our time, let those court staff concentrate on pursuing real cases. its an open secrete u sata told ACC to consult u before they probe me any of yo minister. TB Joshua where are u.
Much as people may say what they want, the law is clear on defamation of the president as much as it is on defamation of a private citizen.
So all have protection and recourse under the law
Section 69 of the Penal Code chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia. Tell ’em Sisi.
Fridays are simply not good days to call a good-man to court, Jesus was sentenced on Good Friday too.
How many court cases does HH have??
Only satavand kabimba knows.
HH will continue having more court cases as long as he continue opening his mouth careless
we are the only country where opposition leaders are shuttling between home and courts. apparently this is more prominent under the PF. you thought democracy would flourish, thats when we are dragging ourselves backwards.
The opposition leaders are making things to be like this. They are always daring the party in Govt and the police. HH wants to live like he is above the law. I think he has more important things to do than always finding himself on the wrong. He can simply direct his energy to more important things like organizing the diminishing party. We had all the confidence in this party, but the head is losing touch with. The presidential office has to be respected regardless of who is occupying it, I’m sure HH would want to be respected even by his opponents when he assumes the office of the president. We are the only country that does not respect the office of the presidency and call it whatever we want!
My dear friend you must be exposed to the outside world, everywhere politicians once found wanting are being taken to courts, Sarkozy is being taken to court for abuse of funds during campaigns, Bingu’s brother was charged with treason just last week,Madagascar’s former president is in SA in exile and wont return home the list goes on, so if your HH is being taken to court just know that its a phase which comes with the teritory…he must also learn to be slow uttering things without proof.
@ The Law With people like you, it is becoming ever more difficult to be civil ad respectful on this site, please note that what you are doing is assaulting your own nations integrity and also pissing us intelligent and well meaning Zambians the fcuk off.
The presidential office should be respected but NEVER feared, for when you allow that to happen you open the gates to dictatorship and evil. At what point did HH show disrespect? It is Sata who was always first to insult and ridicule others, which earned him well fitting title of CNP which by the way was used as a metaphor, and only PF carders saw different.
You are condoning failure and hating on fair and warranted criticisms so where do you think we are going as a nation.
with that said..chendeyako
HH is misbehaving and you want him to be left alone?? Get back to your senses man.The Hungry Hyena is trying to bring confusion in the nation.He needs to be sorted out!!
@ The Law With people like you, it is becoming ever more difficult to be civil ad respectful on this site, please note that what you are doing is assaulting your own nations integrity and also pissing us intelligent and well meaning Zambians off. The presidential office should be respected but NEVER feared, for when you allow that to happen you open the gates to dictatorship and evil. At what point did HH show disrespect? It is Sata who was always first to insult and ridicule others, which earned him well fitting title of CNP which by the way was used as a metaphor, and only PF carders saw different.
You are condoning failure and hating on fair and warranted criticisms so where do you think we are going as a nation.
with that said..
Tumbuka, you are out of touch with the society and if you happen to come from broken home’s were morals are not respected better you shut your mouth.The president has to be respected not insulted .
Iwe is the president your father or something? How many Zambians has ths president insulted? Respect is earned not forced upon ala. Ba kabova imwe mwa shupa sana!
Respect is a two way street and its earned not just given willy nilly.Its such societies such as african,arabic or any of the very traditional settings where rules are one way where most abuse occurs.
But the president can insult? Is that what you are trying to tell me? I agree with Tumbuka Pride, respect is earned and never demanded or forced. You must not know a thing about history because every single leader who tried that failed lamentable and was forced out of power or killed multitudes of his citizens trying to stay there.E.g Mobutu(Zaire), Amin (uganda), Abacha(Nigeria), Mossolini (Italy), that Chilean chap, Pol Pot (cambodia), Marie Antoinette(France), at least 3 English Kings an soon to be your current president, and his best friend Mugabe
You are forgetting the fact that Sata never respected the office of the President when he was in opposition. The biggest weakness of the PF leaders is hypocrisy. The do not practise what they teach. A good leader leads by example.
No one is above the law….Let the chap appear!!
Too many court appearances for HH. But it has ironical advantages, free press coverages especially from public media that would otherwise not cover him. In other words HH is always in the minds and soon will be in the hearts of the people. Courteous of His Excellency.
Dream on which hearts..? tell me you are joking…UPND is better off without HH period.. find another leader.
Which hearts of people is HH? Just your heart my friend.
HH will never rule but will end up in prison soon when convicted.
Dollar
Show your self up HH, we Zambian know that we can not trust you with power because of your hate for other tribes especially the bemba speaking and the fact that you are a very unreliable leader.
You talk like that but you allow Nchito and his fellow brats to walk out on a judge.. Priorities
@ Paolo, Only those who have been bewitched by the Post newspaper hatred for HH, like you believe that HH hates other tribes. HH dont be intimidated by those who are joulous of you. HH you love all the tribes in Zambia & the only tribalist we have in Zambia is Sata.
I agree our governance record has become worse than in zimbabwe
Lets be fair, are you blogging from Scotland???
You reap what you sow.
Hahahahaa……..I think we are much better than before. Just look at ZNBC coverage,everyone want to listen to news at 19hrs than it was.
Thank God am paid now…….
Under 5 is becoming boring reason why his MPs are running away from him. Too petty and childish!
Rubbish hunger in the country pf creation
If only I had powers to arrest and prosecute I would definately arrest HH this time and throw him in cells for 90 days. His sturbone attitudes and careless talking are getting over my neck, he definately thinks he is above the law because he has money , so he keeps undermining the law and not respecting court orders.respect the law bwana
What’s with PF and 90 days???
If i had powers too i wud make sure such individuals like u wud b arrested put into dentention for 90 days.
let him gag his mouth too and learn to distinguish between politiking and defaming.
Sata better die while still in office because if not, he will also dance to his own music after leaving office. This is becoming ridiculous. #PFout2016
hahahaha are you sure about PF out in 2016..? clearly you are either hallusinating or you are blind on purpose…where will HH get the votes when he is losing seats one after another..? get real and come to terms with the fact that PF pull thru again come 2016 no matter what happens…eish
Oh by the way God has different plans for us and for Sata he might just be here longer than you careful with what you wish for.
this chap should be locked we are tired of his rotten mouth.
Zmabia deserves better than this, Just because we are peaceful does not mean we should be abused like this, especially by the head of state. even in our homes, fathers who don’t do and act right get insulted by their own children. And how is it defamation if he made an allegation such as this, I am no lawyer but I think this is something called liable or something..Don’t take your enemy to court.
Mitt Romney abused his electorate and expected to win the presidency… can’t we at least learn something from there? Politicians in Zambia think that when they abuse the electorate they will cow them enough to be elected to power. Tribal comments will lose you that demographic you are abusing; lawlessness will lose you that demographic that is law abiding – and the list goes on. Lets begin to appreciate the new dispensation; breaking laws in order to show that you don’t like them is a very funny way to try to change them.
Y is someone afraid to be insulted when he, himself used to insult North / west / south / east / there and here wen he was in oposition. He is feeling the heat now?? Do unto others as you expect them to do unto you.
when did HH become a law breaker..hahahah..once PF assumed power..who knows what they aim for ..?nothing but chaos..HH is a law abiding citizen and free man..
Kalok people its not clear what u trying to compare
Don’t ever try to compare USA to ZED, electorates in
US get way better than Africans who get bones .
HH has lost direction and he does not know what to talk about in public.What message is he giving the Zambians about his character and behaviour?It seems he thinks he will become popular by brushing hid shoulders with the law all the time.In actual sense he is making himself more and more unpopular.We expect him to talk about real development inssue insteady of just insulting the president!!He is really bitter and he is a true hungry heyna!
Another flashback: The Post
Rupiah is a blood-thirsty monster, says Hichilema
By Speedwell Mupuchi in Mufumbwe
Fri 30 Apr. 2010, 04:00 CAT [8457 Reads, 12 Comment(s)] Text size Print
UPND president Hakainde Hichilema has charged that President Rupiah Banda is a blood thirsty monster using violence to make his political position alive.
And President Rupiah Banda has charged that Hichilema is possessed by the devil.
Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde said he cannot allow Hichilema to point at him.
Commenting on the violence by MMD cadres and police brutality against UPND members, Hichilema blamed President Banda for the violence in Mufumbwe. He said Zambia was being driven down a tube and that the violence experienced was unprecedented.
Hichilema said the MMD top leadership was perpetuating violence.
“Since Rupiah Banda was here, the violence has worsened. The police are not helping out. When they help, they assist the MMD in beating and assaulting people. This happened when our member’s minibus was smashed in full view of the police and the police even looted the goods in the minibus,” Hichilema said.
He charged that President Banda was allowing violence to keep his political position alive.
“The MMD leadership is on the verge of commencing elimination of its political competitors. The incident in Mufumbwe has moved our suspicion levels to specificity – they tried to kill (Charles) Kakoma; the attack on Lumba (the campaign manager) are a confirmation that we have entered a police state,” he said.
Hichilema said the violence, if left unchecked, would make the country ungovernable more so as the country move towards the 2011 elections.
“Zambians now must know what type of leader Rupiah Banda is. Those who were doubting our concern that Rupiah Banda is a dictator and was introducing one party dictatorship have now seen,” Hichilema said. “It’s up to the Zambian people to rise against this. We must secure our country for our children and their children’s children. We must not fear because if we do, this monster and dictator will grow to proportions that are likely to create civil strife in the country.”
Hichilema said the earlier Zambians came together to stop “this blood-thirsty monster”, the better the country’s future.
“This is the time to unite against the dragon. This is not time to say those being attacked are UPND, it’s not me. When the monster and dragon comes, it will be too late to defend yourself,” advised Hichilema.
He condemned the MMD and police brutality against UPND cadres who they followed at their campaign centre.
“One of our colleagues has lost an eye,” he said.
Hichilema said if President Banda provided leadership as head of state, the violence would not have escalated to levels where people were losing their eyes. He said that the history of struggles indicate that when there were threats to society as it was now, by the MMD, society came together to stop the evil they faced.
Hichilema urged the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to take interest in what was happening in Zambia because in Zimbabwe and Kenya, what happened there was sparked by incidences like what happened in Mufumbwe.
Police recorded a total of six casualties in Wednesday’s violence in which a UPND cadre lost his eye after police severely beat him and four MMD cadres who sustained deep cuts in their heads after being beaten by the security officers.
Acting police deputy spokesperson Moses Suwali told journalists that police had not yet received details of what caused the violence.
He also said no arrest was made although dockets were opened and warned that police would move in on the perpetrators and arrest the offenders.
Suwali said more police officers were being deployed in Mufumbwe to quell the violence.
Tension in Mufumbwe had been high since MMD deployed thugs from Lusaka. The MMD thugs had been camped right in town and had been terrorising the locals and the opposition.
In Wednesday’s incident, a UPND Copperbelt treasurer Christopher Mwape went to buy drinks at one of the shops.
The MMD thugs identified the minibus as belonging to the UPND and immediately started smashing its windows and destroyed its tyres in full view of riot police officers deployed to maintain law and order.
Mwape helplessly watched his minibus being destroyed and reported the matter to the police.
Copperbelt UPND chairperson Elisha Matambo explained that his party’s cadres who witnessed the MMD thugs smashing the minibus wanted to respond but police restrained them.
“One youth was taking a bath behind the building of our candidate and the MMD thugs spotted him and they went and knifed him,” said Matambo. “Our youths were infuriated and they again attempted to stone the MMD until police descended on them and chased them into Maikulile Compound.”
Meanwhile, police just stood and watched the MMD thugs armed with catapults, stones and sticks move from their position to near where the UPND campaign centre was and started stoning.
Riot police officers watched for about three to five minutes before firing teargas to quell the situation.
The police officers from Kamfinsa who got fed up with the MMD cadres’ behaviour caught four of them whom they beat severely and they sustained cuts in their heads.
Those arrested and injured were taken to Mufumbwe police to get medical reports for them to seek medical attention.
While giving a statement at police station over the smashing of his vehicle, two MMD thugs identified as Patrick Kabwe and Derrick Lungu, who were among those that sustained injuries in the violence, were brought in and Mwape identified them as the ones behind the smashing of his minibus.
Later, some unknown people followed the injured cadres at Mufumbwe Hospital where they beat them. It was later heard all those injured in the violence had discharged themselves from Mufumbwe Hospital where they were admitted.
And concluding his campaign for MMD candidate Mulondwe Muzungu at Kamabuta Middle Basic School on Wednesday, President Banda said a leader must not espouse violence. He blamed Hichilema for violence in Mushima area where MMD cadres burnt churches but the MMD twisted the facts in order to frame the UPND.
President Banda said he was condemning the violence and that he expected Hichilema to do the same.
“Maybe I am wasting my time since he is a partner with Sata that you are calling here Satana. It may be that the spirit of Satan has gone into him, that is why he is so vicious. He is so upset with people that they are willing to listen to us and not to him,” President Banda said.
“You can see the young man is possessed with the devil. How come he is has gone round torching churches? Three churches were destroyed in Mushima, they ran over the legs of people with their vehicles.”
President Banda said he had heard Hichilema at his rally asking his supporters that if they (Hichilema, President Banda and Muzungu) were in a race who would win and that the supporters responded that he (Hichilema) would win.
hahahahahahahahahahaha kekekekekekeke up to now HH has to record a win….lol
“This is not a race for running. This is politics. … I have stood with Hakainde and I defeated him. This kind of race as Kenneth Kaunda would say ‘wacepa sana’, I will overrun him,” he said.
“Let’s say we have a physical race, myself, himself and he is holding hands with Sata. I will beat them because he will be pulling Sata. Sata will be coughing, because he has been smoking all his life and I will win.”
President Banda said the MMD would defeat the PF-UPND Pact.
He also told the people that when they voted for him, they did not expect him to be a magician who would to work within 90 days to do everything.
He said Hichilema would never be president of Zambia.
And Kabonde said he would not allow Hichilema to point at him in the manner depicted by The Post picture last week.
Briefing the press in Mufumbwe, Kabonde, to suit President Banda’s position, said he saw churches burnt by cadres suspected to be UPND who had gone to the area to campaign. He said the situation in Mufumbwe had became worse as some people went to attack Charles Kakoma and UPND cadres reacted by besieging the police.
“And around them were MMD cadres. It put the police and myself in a precarious situation in the sense that if we took action, a serious action then could have resulted in death because the two groups were ready to fight, even in the face of the police,” Kabonde said.
hahaaaaahhhahaaa
You call someone hyena and you think its respect. By the way, how old are you? We are just failing to accept that everyone has a tribe where he originates. What is this tribe this which seem to control the minds of most Zambians?
PFs are above the law!
Iam rather lost. Saying the president is protecting Kabimba can that be an insult?
Mr.president, I m happy that u managed to come to court n reconcilled with the judge.Thats excellent. U need to unite the country for u to win our hearts. U need to set a prcedence as the president in displaying correct attitude towards humanity, dialogue rationally, engage proactively with the other parties n be the first to respect the rule of law. U’ll be the president of zambia
Defamation of the President was a racist law that colonial master Britain introduced only in its colonies to instigate in the natives a fear of the governor. I don’t understand Why a freed people inherited it