BY MAKOKWA CLARA MUYENDEKWA
THE Choma magistrate court has acquitted a man accused of trafficking in cannabis citing inconsistent evidence by witnesses.
Clement Mwanza stood charged with trafficking in psychotropic substances contrary to section 15 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic substances Act no. 35 of the Laws of Zambia and read together with statutory Instrument No 119 of 1995.
Particulars of the offence are that on 10 November 2021 Stanley Mwanza did traffic in 3.2g of cannabis at Choma’s Horizon area of Choma District in Southern Province.
The court said its findings were that according to the second public witness, the accused was found with a wrapping and the other ball of cannabis was found in his bag but that this evidence did not get supported by independent evidence.
However according to the first witness, Drug Enforcement Commission Investigations Officer, Andrew Tembo, the ball of cannabis was found on the ground and not on the accused as the accused was just standing next to the cannabis.
The court further explained that the discrepancies in the testimony of witnesses which comprised one team destroyed their evidence.
Senior Resident Magistrate Peter Mungala also highlighted that the second witness said an unknown person came to visit the accused and claimed the bag was his and this evidence was not produced to the state, but could have collaborated the evidence if it was represented.
Further, the court noted that any person would have dropped the balls of cannabis aside from the accused as there were three people found at the scene.
Magistrate Mungala acquitted the accused despite recognizing that the evidence had been tested and proven to be cannabis through the University Teaching Hospital food and drugs laboratory.
