By REBECCA MUSHOTA  –

TWO former bodyguards of the United Party for National Development (UPND) vice-president Geoffrey Mwamba have engaged the bailiffs to help them obtain goods worth K700,000 from him to recover money owed to them as compensation for unlawful detention. Levy Simukoko of Lusaka West and Mike Sitali of Kanyama Township in Lusaka have been granted a writ of Fieri Facias (also known as a Fi Fa) by the Lusaka High Court, instructing the bailiffs to get goods worth K700,000, after Mr Mwamba failed to give them compensation in cash. A Fi Fa is a writ of execution after judgment obtained in a legal action for damages for the sheriff to collect goods from a person found wanting. According to the Fi Fa signed on February 1, this year, the bailiffs should get goods worth K700,000 from Mr Mwamba and interest for a judgement passed against the defendant on January 21, this year, in which he was found guilty of defaming Mr Simukoko ad Mr Sitali. Mr Simukoko and Mr Sitali had sued Mr Mwamba for special damages after they claimed that he had defamed their character when he said that the two had stolen from him. They wanted compensation for the anguish, pain and torture, the two suffered when they spent five days in police custody after being accused of stealing from him. Mr Simukoko and Mr Sitali were detained at Woodlands Police Station in November 2015 for five days after Mr Mwamba accused them of stealing US$4,000 from him. They were released after Police arrested the actual person who stole the money. After the release, the plaintiffs went to Mr Mwamba’s plant in Chinika area in Lusaka and found that he was in Ndola and his wife and children apologised on his behalf. When they went to his residence, the next day to reconcile, Mr Mwamba allegedly chased them away from his home. All efforts to resolve the matter amicably failed and so the plaintiffs went to court to demand compensation worth K700,000. The court ruled in their favour on January 21, this year.