Sat, 22 Oct 2016 10:33:59 +0000
FORMER Managing Director of the defunct Zambia Airways, Captain Geoffrey Mulundika has been acquitted of a matter that has been in court for the last 20 years.
Captain Mulundika has been acquitted along with former Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) supervisor Joseph Mundubi who had been charged with four counts of obtaining K150 million by false pretenses 20 years ago.
Cpt Mulundika and his co-accused Mundubi were acquitted by Chief Resident Magistrates Kenneth Mulife after the State offered no evidence against the duo.
When the matter came up, National Prosecutions Authority (NPA) prosecutor Juvenalis Kamtondole made an application to amend the charge to strike out Cpt Mulundika from the indictment as he had never appeared before court since the matter was brought before court 20 years ago.
The court allowed the application and the prosecutor Mr Kamtondole read out the three charges to Mr Mundubi who denied all the three charges.It was at that time that Mr Kamtondole offered no evidence against Captain Mulundika and Mr Mundubi when he stated that the matter had been in court for 20 years, and that the State had endeavoured to look for the records but failed to trace them.
He informed the court that both the prosecutor and the arresting officer who were handling the matter 20 years ago could not be found while the court records of the case were equally lost.
In this matter, Mulundika and Mundubi were in count one facing a charge of forgery contrary to section 342 as read together with section 437 of the laws of Zambia.They are alleged to have on dates unknown but between February 1 and March, 1996 jointly and while acting together with others unknown with intent to defraud and deceive did forge a document namely an entry for K150, 000 to the account of Cpt Mulundika by debiting the account of Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries purporting to be genuine when, in fact, not.
They were in count two facing a charge of uttering false documents contrary to section 352 of the laws of Zambia.
Mulundika and Mundubi on the same dates 1996 jointly and while acting together with others unknown knowingly and fraudulently uttered a forged document namely an entry for K150, 000 to the branch Manager of Zambia National Commercial Bank, Lusaka Business Centre.Mandubi in count three was facing a charge of theft by public servant contrary to section 272 as read together with section 277 of the laws of Zambia.He is alleged to have on the same dates in 1996 jointly and while acting together with others unknown and being a public servant namely Zambia National Commercial Bank did steal K71, 000 property of the Government of Zambia which came into his possession by virtue of his employment.
