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An accused , Kenani Jere, has told the Lusaka High Court that he never murdered veterinary Doctor Mwape Mwengwe, but was guilty of stealing his Mercedes Benz.
Jere also testified that after successfully stealing the Doctor’s vehicle, him and his girlfriend (co-accused) Doris Nduba, drove to the notorious Chibolya Compound where they bought Cocaine which they consumed and partied their night away.
He further revealed that he was introduced to drugs by Nduba in 2019 and described her as an addict.
It was Jere’s testimony that at the time he stole the vehicle at a named Filing Station in Garden compound area, the break lights and head lumps were on but the Dr Mwengwe was not inside.
This is in a matter Nduba, a Mulungushi University student, Kenani Jere, Keegan Zulu, who are businessmen, Josat Tembo, a mechanic and Misty Bubala Mukatasha are alleged to have murdered Dr Mwengwe between June 10 and 12, 2021, in Lusaka.
The five are also charged with aggravated robbery.
He was murdered on his way from Kabwe to Lusaka and his partly burnt body dumped in Kabangwe area.
The accused are alleged to have stolen the victim’s Mercedes Benz, ML320 registration No. BAB 2838 valued at USD14, 500, Infinix phone worth K5,000, Macbook laptop valued at K23,800 and two bags of maize worth K300.
When the matter came up for defence before Justice Ruth Chibbabbuka, Jere denied murdering the Doctor but accepted stealing his vehicle.
He said on that fateful night of June 10, he and the girlfriend, Nduba went to Chibolya around 23hours where he bought Cocaine which cost K70 per rock from a drug dealer only known as Brown.
He also admitted that he received all the payments for the vehicle parts which was dismantled by Tembo and Zulu.
Nduba testified that on June 10, 2021 she received a call from Jere at around 21: 00 hours, asking if they could have a good time together as he was coming from Kabwe to Lusaka.
She accepted the invitation and met the boyfriend somewhere at Heroes stadium.
Nduba said Jere was in the company of Mukatasha and driving a Mercedes Benz.
“I asked Kenani whose car (Mercedes Benz) it was because he was the one in the driver’s seat. Kenani said it was his uncle’s car. After Kenani asked me if I could drive to Chibolya. I asked him why? He said he was too intoxicated to drive. So I got to the driver’s seat and Kenani went to the back seat. And I drove them to Chibolya,” she narrated.
Nduba said in Chibolya the packed in front of a drug dealers shop, but after a few minutes, a Hilux vehicle with three police officers inside approached them.
She named the two as Dalitso Mawere and Hamukamba and did not know the third officer.
“Then the officers told me that I shouldn’t be in Chibolya at such an hour and that he was giving us five minutes to leave. I agreed with them and told them that I was going to leave as soon as I went to the vehicle,” she said.
Nduba said they left the spot and drove to a woman’s house in Chibolya known as Mama Didi’s.
She said they parked in the yard and continued to party including abusing cocaine.
Nduba said they next morning, the three decided to book at a guest house near Heroes Stadium where she took a shower and rested for a while.
She testified that at around 10:00 hours, she left the two and went to town to follow up on her bags.
“Around 14:00 hours, Kenani asked me where I was, I said I was in town. He then said him and Misty were coming to town because they wanted to see me. I met with them and went together to Chibolya. So there in Chibolya, we were seated at a drug dealer’s shop. I kept noticing Kenani and Misty walking away to speak with someone. That person I later got to know as Keagan Zulu,” she said.
Nduba told the court that few days after Zulu had left for Kabwe, she received a call from a strange number on his MTN sim card.
She was asked by the man if she was the girl seen with Jere.
“When I answered yes, he asked me where I was and I told him I was in Chilenje. About 30 minutes later,I was walking towards Chilenje market and two officers grabbed me. One of my left arm was hurt. One of them pressed something on my lower back, I didn’t see what it was but it hurt,'” she stated.
Nduba said she was taken to a vehicle and put on the backseat and slapped.
At Lusaka Central Police, she later informed that owner of the vehicle the boyfriend drove had been murdered.
Judge Chibbabbuka adjourned the matter to June, 2024 for continued defence.
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