Lusaka man jailed 2yrs for defaming President Lungu
By Staff Reporter
THE Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has jailed 68-year-old Justin Mwaba Chikonde for defaming President Edgar Lungu.
Lusaka magistrate Faides Hamaundu found Chikonde guilty of defamation of the President.
It was alleged that Chikonde on November 3, 2018 at Lusaka, with intent to bring the name of the President into ridicule published defamatory matter by word of mouth in extremely crude language.
During trial, the accused under Oath, told the court that he did not know anything concerning the case and the complaint, who he claimed was the President never came to court to testify neither did the person who took the video.
Chikonde said he shared the same names with the man in the video but refused being the person.
He had told the court that the words in the video were not insults according to Bemba language.
When the matter came up for sentencing, magistrate Hamaundu said the prosecution had proved the case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
She said Chikonde during trial had testified that one of the witness who testified had a grudge against him.
The magistrate, however, wondered why the witness can have something against the accused, if she said he was her regular customer.
She found him guilty and in mitigation, Chikonde asked the court for leniency considering his age as he can not manage to be in custody for too long.
However, magistrate Hamaundu after considering his mitigation and the fact that he is a first offender and his advanced age, he deserved leniency.
She jailed him for two years, saying the offence of defaming the President has become common.
