Elusive PF Kawambwa Member of Parliament, Chilangwa, surrenders to police; to appear in court

Patriotic Front (PF) Kawambwa Constituency Member of Parliament, Nickson Chilangwa, has surrendered himself to Kawambwa Police Station in Luapula Province.

Police Spokesperson, Rae Hamoonga, in a statement issued in Lusaka on Saturday said this occurred at 12:45 hours and that he has since been detained in custody.

Hamoonga said Chilangwa will be presented before court on Monday July 17, 2023 in Kawambwa that issued a bench warrant against him.

Police had been searching for the elusive Chilangwa for the past three weeks following a bench warrant issued against him by the Kawambwa Magistrate Court.

He had been issued a bench warrant against for failure to appear in court.

Magistrate Martin Namushi, ordered that the bench warrant be retainable on Friday, May 26, 2023.

This followed the continuous absence of Chilangwa in court, where himself and six others were scheduled to open the defence in the case they were charged for arson, threatening violence, malicious damage to property and four counts of assault in 2021.

However, before issuing the bench warrant, Magistrate Namushi ordered the surety to explain why the accused was not present despite being aware of the date of court appearance.

Daniel Mulenga told the court that Chilangwa was not in court as he was attending another High Court case in Lusaka and to that effect, the affidavit had been filed before the court.

However, Magistrate Namushi noted that the continuous absence of Chilangwa in court was causing unnecessary delays to dispose of the case which was scheduled for commencement of defence and finish within the agreed period of 10 days.

The Magistrate stated that he was left with no other option but to order for the arrest of Mr. Chilangwa, saying he could no longer entertain the application by the defence counsel to further adjourn the case to June 26, 2023.

In this matter, the other accused persons are Kawambwa Council Chairperson Kalumba Chifumbe, Kunda Chitotela, Chabu Chitotela, Davy Kaniki and Chibwe Musantu, all members of the Patriotic Front Party.

It is alleged that the seven accused persons, during the Presidential and General Election campaigns on August 12, 2021 while acting together assaulted four United Party For National Development (UPND) members, damaged the windscreen of the Mahindra motor vehicle before setting it ablaze and also threatened violence.

WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.