By SYLVIA MWEETWA –
THE Kabwe High Court has sentenced a 42-year-old man who attacked and robbed a taxi driver of his motor vehicle to 15 years imprisonment with  hard labour.
This is a case in which Allan Silwamba was facing one count of aggravated robbery contrary to Section 294 (1) of the laws of Zambia.
Facts before the court were that on February 18, 2009, Silwamba attacked Chris Mahamba and robbed him of his Toyota Sprinter registration number ABR 2471, a charge which he denied.
During the trial, the State called eight witnesses, among them, Muhamba who testified before Kabwe High Court Judge Elita Mwikisa that on the fateful day, he had parked his motor vehicle at Chitanda where he was operating as a taxi driver when he was approached by a woman who said she wanted to hire a car to go to Kapiri Mposhi.
The witness told Ms Judge Mwikisa that he charged the woman K200 but before they could start off, he was approached by Silwamba whom the woman said she was with and they together started off for Kapiri Mposhi.
He said on their way, the woman asked him to pull over to enable them pick some people they were travelling with to Kapiri Mposhi and he remained in the car with Silwamba.
Silwamba later asked him to open the boot because the people the woman went to pick had luggage but Silwamba stabbed him in the back with a kitchen knife after opening the boot and started beating him.
Silwamba then told passersby that Mahamba was a thief and later put him in the boot and drove off, but after realising that the vehicle was moving, Muhamba opened the boot, squeezed through the back seat and got hold of the steering.
The two struggled for a few minutes, forcing the vehicle to hit into a pavement forcing it to overturn.
Mahamba now called for help from passersby afterwhich Silwamba ran away but was later apprehended and handed over to the police.
Another witness, Maybin Mukokela testified how he heard someone screaming that he had been attacked by a thief. He rushed to call his friend and the two came to the aid of Mahamba.
Arresting officer Chipasha Bwalya said Silwamba was an escapee from Kapiri Mposhi Police cells and recalled how once he received information from Solwezi Anti-Robbery Squad that they had in their custody Silwamba.
He said that Silwamba had been on the run from April 2009 and was only apprehended in July 2012 and was later brought to Kabwe where he was arrested for another offence.
In mitigation through his lawyer Mulilo Kabesha from Kabesha and Company, Silwamba asked for leniency, saying he had learnt a lesson and pledged to be a good citizen if given a chance.
In passing sentence, Justice Mwikisa said it was saddening that people were losing property through people who were forcibly grabbing motor vehicles instead of engaging themselves in meaningful activities.
She said she was sending him to prison to reflect and sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment and warned him against thinking of escaping considering that he was convicted for the offence by the  lower court.

Minor exposes underwear conspiracy

By PEZO SIABASIMBI-
A  FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD boy of Lusaka’s Matero Township has testified before Chilenje Local Court how his biological mother and grandmother asked him to steal two dirty undergarments from his step mother in order to use them for rituals.
The boy is currently staying with his father who has re-married after divorcing his mother.
But this has not gone well with the former wife who is fighting hard to win back the heart of her former husband.
“I was asked to put charms on my stepmother’s bed so that she could be chased,” he told the court.
“My mother and grandmother asked me to get a blouse and two dirty undergarments from my stepmother so that they could use them for rituals.”
This was a case in which Betty Katanga, 29, of Lusaka’s Matero Township sued Susan Phiri, 33, and her mother Violet Phiri of Bauleni Township for getting her blouse and underwear and smearing charms on her matrimonial bed.
The boy submitted that he was asked by her mother and grandmother to steal the clothes from her stepmother when he was only five years old so that she could later be divorced.
Katanga told the court that she started experiencing backaches and her stepson told her that it was his biological mother and grandmother who were responsible.
“My stepson told me that he felt very bad each time I complained of a backache and decided to tell me that his grandmother and mother were responsible,” she said.
But in their defence, the two denied having performed any rituals on Katanga’s lingerie, saying they had no reason to behave in that manner because Susan was also married to another man.
“I can’t remember sending my son to do anything for me because each time we meet, he runs away from me as if I’m not his mother,” Susan said.
“I can never hold any grudge against Katanga because she got married when I had already divorced my husband.”
Susan said she could not recall the last time she met with her son because his stepmother stopped him from visiting her.
Chilenje local court magistrate Sharon Sichone adjourned the case for to another day for judgment.

Girl,19, sues lover (45) for child care

By PEZO SIABASIMBI –
A FOURTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD married man of Lusaka’s Chilenje Township was left with shame when he was brought before the local court for child maintenance by a 19-year-old teenager he impregnanted.
Chomba Simutowe impregnanted Costina Chiulu in 2011 but suddenly stopped providing any support on suspicion that his young lover was having love affairs with other men.
Chiulu told the court that she became pregnant from Simutowe a year after being in a relationship and the ‘sugar daddy’ provided all the necessary support during pregnancy and after delivery.
She said she was surprised that Simutowe stopped supporting her and the child without giving her reasons, hence the decision to drag him to court so that he could take responsibility of his actions.
“I don’t know why he stopped supporting me and my child, he asked me to take the child for a DNA test of which we did and the results showed that he was the father,” she said.
Chiulu said she had at some point taken Simutowe to police’s Victim Support Unit where officers asked him to be providing the child with K200 every month but never did so.
But in his defence, Simutowe told the court that he was not sure if he was the biological father, claiming that Chiulu had many intimate boy friends.
“I stopped supporting the child after learning that Chiulu had many intimate boy friends and that made me wonder if I was really responsible,” he said.
He said the two had not gone for DNA but for a blood group test and he would only know if he was the real father of the baby after conducting a DNA test.
But Chilenje local court magistrate Sharon Sichone, sitting with George Kaoma, ordered Simutowe to start supporting the child with a monthly K400 as he awaits a DNA test.

Mtendere woman fined K500 for insulting

By PEZO SIABASIMBI –
A THIRTY-SIX-YEAR-OL D woman of Lusaka’s Mtendere Township who insulted a 50-year-old woman has been ordered to compensate her with K500.
Chilenje Local Court magistrate Sharon Sichone said Helen Ngoma must pay K500 for verbally abusing Mary Phiri of the same township without apparent reasons.
This was a case in which Phiri sued Ngoma for insults after the defendant allegedly named all the private parts of the plaintiff in public.
Facts before the court were that the two are close neighbours and Phiri had at one time rented Ngoma’s house before she was forced to leave due to insults.
During that time, Phiri told the court that each time Ngoma got drunk she insulted her although the complainant did not do anything because she wanted peace between the two.
“Apart from that, her daughter is fond of stealing clothes from the line each time someone washes their clothes. She once stole my daughter’s clothes and wore them after a week. I didn’t want to say anything for the sake of peace,” she said.
Phiri said one day when she came back from church, she found Ngoma drinking beer with her male friend.
She said upon seeing her, Ngoma started mentioning Phiri’s private parts, a situation which forced an old man who went to visit Phiri leave her house because he felt embarrassed.
Phiri’s witness, Alick Tembo, said he heard Ngoma insulting Phiri when he went to visit the complainant.
“This woman can insult, I can’t even repeat any single insult because it is so embarrassing. Her insults were so big that I couldn’t stay for long and decided to leave Phiri’s house,” he said.
But Ngoma denied the charge and said it was instead Phiri who was fond of accusing her children of stealing anything that went missing in the complainant’s home.
Magistrate Sharon Sichone said women should restrain from insulting as that would undermine their integrity and respect they had in society.
Lusaka woman faces divorce over suicide threats

By SARAH TEMBO –

A THIRTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD man of Lusaka’s Ng’ombe Township has asked the Matero Local Court to grant him divorce from his 25-year-old wife who has allegedly been threatening to commit suicide.
Boniface Camulambe told the court that his wife, Mary Manda, had on several occasions threatened to take her life and kill the couple’s two children after accusing him of having extra-marital affairs.
This is in a case where Camulambe sued Manda of the same area for divorce after the two failed to resolve their marital disputes.
“I don’t have money to bury my wife together with my two children if she commits suicide, it is better that you separate us so that she can do that when she is at her parents’ house,” he said.
Camulambe said Manda had failed to understand that he was working at night some times as she locked him out when he came back home late from work.
He said his wife once told him that the couple’s first born child was not his, hence she would make him drink poison before killing herself.
But in her defence, Manda told the court that his husband was a womaniser who would leave her family without food for days.
“I love my husband and I don’t want the court to grant us divorce. May be as time goes, we would learn to tolerate each other and stay in harmony,” she said.
But when passing judgment, magistrate Petronella Kalyelye, sitting with Lewis Mumba, granted the two divorce saying that they would not force the man to stay in a marriage where he claimed he was not happy.
Camulambe was, however, ordered to compensate his wife with K3,000 as well as K200 per month as child maintenance.