Mukata wants UPND cited for contempt of court

Lawyers representing murder accused Chilanga Member of Parliament Keith Mukata have asked the Lusaka High Court to cite the United Party for National Development (UPND) media team for contempt of court in a matter in which Mr. Mukata is jointly charged with Charmaine Musonda with the murder of a security guard, Namakambwa Kwenda on May 6, 2017.

Making the application before Judge Susan Wanjelani when the matter came up this morning, Mr. Mukata’s Lawyer Milner Katolo submitted that the UPND media team on the 30^th November, 2017 disseminated information using various media publications suggesting that the accused , acting together with home affairs minister Steven Kampyongo actually  murdered the security guard at his law firm.

He said the authors of the articles have undermined the Court’s authority to receive evidence, by substituting it with their own version, and have put Mr. Mukata’s reputation in bad light.

Mr Katolo submitted that the UPND media team should therefore exculpate themselves to show cause as to why contempt proceedings should not be commenced against them.

Judge Wanjalani has since reserved her ruling on the matter to 5th December,2017.

Meanwhile Mr Mukata’s witness MukunSa BWALYA testified that the chief investigative officer (CIO) said that ballistic experts found three more empty bullet cartridges outside Mr. Mukata’s law firm the scene of the crime.

He told the court that this is contained in the notes he took when he together with Mr. Mukata’s legal counsel Bonaventure Mutale went to ascertain whether there were other bullet cartridges apart from those that were discovered inside the premises.

Mr BWALYA told the court his notes indicate that a worker at Mr. Mukata’s law firm heard the ballistic experts asking each other as to whether they should include the latest empty cartridges in their report.