By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE and ADRIAN MWANZA –
FORMER national heavyweight boxing champion Joseph ‘No Pressure’ Chingangu yesterday felt the pressure after his sureties struggled to raise K15,000 cash to bail him out.
This was after Chingangu appeared in the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded not guilty to theft of a motor vehicle.
Chingangu, 46, of Flat number 12 Merzaf, Chilenje Township, who is also charged with burglary and theft, has since been released on a K15,000 cash bail.
However, Chingangu felt the pressure as he along with two sureties struggled to find the hard cash from about 10:00 hours till around 15:00 hours when the money was paid before he could be released.
Chingangu, who threatened to beat the photojournalist who wanted to take a picture of him, appeared before Chief Resident Magistrate Aridah Chulu, who allocated the case to Magistrate Nchimunya Simaubi.
In the first count, Chingangu is charged with theft of a motor vehicle while in the second count, he is charged with burglary and theft.
It is alleged that Chingangu on February 4, 2016 stole a Toyota Probox registration number ALH 7159 valued at K32,000 belonging to Peng Teng Kang.
Chingangu is additionally alleged to have on February 4, 2016, with some other unknown persons, broken into Peng’s residence where they stole assorted items valued at K156,752.
Among the stolen items was a 42 inch television set, five suitcases, necklaces, two Huawei cellular phones, assorted personal clothes, pair of shoes, US$200 cash and K6,000 cash belonging to Peng.
Chingangu told Mr Simaubi after the charges were read out to him that he understood the charge but he was not guilty. The court entered pleas of not guilty in both counts.
He later applied for bail arguing that the offences he was facing were bailable and he was of fixed abode.
Mr Simaubi granted him a K15,000 cash bail with two working sureties from established organisations and adjourned the matter to March 23 for trial to start.