The Lusaka Magistrates Court has taken a stern stance against a police officer’s failure to execute a bench warrant against vlogger Mwewa Chitambala, popularly known as Simon Mwewa.
The court has ordered the officer to appear on Wednesday to explain the reasons behind his inaction.
This development comes after Chitambala, a key state witness in a case involving Patrotic Front senior member, Chishimba Kambwili, who is charged with unlawful assembly, skipped court sessions twice.
A bench warrant was issued against Chitambala, but police officer Micheal Matafwali at a previous sitting claimed that he couldn’t execute the warrant as Chitambala was nowhere to be found at Simoson Building and his phone went unanswered.
On Tuesday, the matter came up for hearing, but Chitambala and the police officer were both absent.
State prosecutor Lewis Loti explained that the officer had traveled to Solwezi, while Chitambala’s counsel had undertaken to bring him to court, but failed to do so.
Defence lawyer Kennedy Mambwe argued that the state needs to get its act together and ensure that witnesses are available for trial.
He also expressed surprise that the state was condoning external communication with Chitambala, despite a valid bench warrant being in place.
Magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli adjourned the matter to Wednesday at 10:30 hours, with the police officer required to attend and explain his failure to execute the bench warrant.
