JAILED former Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo has urged the High Court to set aside the Magistrate’s Court’s decision to jailed him for four years imprisonment.
Mr Lusambo, a former Kabushi Patriotic Front lawmaker, Lusambo has urged the court to acquit him, contending that the prosecution failed to prove its case in the corruption matter that led to his conviction last November.
On November 8, 2024, Lusaka magistrate Fydes Hamaundu jailed the ‘Bulldozer’ to four years imprisonment with hard labour for possession of property suspected of being proceeds of crime and fined K27,000 for tax evasion.
Unhappy with the verdict, Mr Lusambo appealed against the judgement arguing that the magistrate erred in law and fact when she convicted him.
In his appeal at the High Court, the convict, now called an appellant in this case, claimed that the lower courts judgement was based on flawed reasoning and insufficient evidence.
He submitted through his lawyers, Messrs D. Findlay and Associates, Makebi Zulu Advocates, and Likando Kalaluka and Company, that the Magistrates’ Court relied on assumptions and ignored material facts.
“We submit that not only did the
prosecution deliberately choose to omit the other financial means that the Appellant had to acquire the alleged tainted properties herein, but they also failed to establish that the Appellant was the owner of the said properties.
“This alone should have created doubts in the court’s mind and unsafe to secure a conviction based on the limping evidence presented by the prosecution and the resultant effect was the Appellant’s acquittal,” the lawyers submit.
“Therefore, it is our prayer that this ground of appeal has merits and should be allowed”.
The lawyers add that in light of the foregoing, the High Court is “respectfully” urged to find that the trial court materially misdirected itself on both the facts and the law, leading to unsafe convictions on grounds 1 through 5 of their client.
“The prosecution failed to discharge the burden of proof and therefore the court should acquit the appellant,” lawyers submit.
Mr Lusambo had applied for bail pending determination of this same appeal but the magistrate declined to grant his plea.
Jailed ex Lumezi lawmaker Munir Zulu, who is serving a one year jailed term for defamation also appealed against the verdict and urged the court to release him on bail pending appeal determination.
