By GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA
HIGH Court family and children’s division Registrar David Simusamba, has asked the court to dismiss a matter in which Chishimba Kambwili sued him and raised allegations that he solicited more than K300, 000 bribe from the politician for him to enter judgment in his favour.
Mr Simusamba stated that the matter should be dismissed for lack of prosecution as there has been no activity since September 27, 2021 when the court issued a notice of hearing for status conference.
In this case, then National Democratic Congress (NDC) president Kambwili and his lawyers Mwiinga Cheelo and Christopher Mundia rushed to the High Court on March 6, 2020, and filed a lawsuit after Mr Simusamba , who sat as Lusaka Principal Resident Magistrate, found him with a case to answer over alleged forgery, uttering a false document, and giving false information to a public officer at the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) relating to Mwamona Engineering Technical Services.
According to a statement of claim filed in the Lusaka High Court, Kambwili and his lawyers said that they would show at trial that Mr Simusamba had on several occasions demanded money from Kambwili for him to enter judgment in his favour in the criminal offences before him.
Kambwili said he would prove at trial and even call irrefutable evidence and will call witnesses that he is in fact not the first prominent politician in Zambia that Magistrate Simusamba has attempted to extort huge sums of money from under the threat of a malicious conviction.
However, Cheelo discontinued the action against Mr Simusamba, leaving Kambwili and Mundia to further prosecute the matter.
According to an affidavit in support of summons for an order to dismiss the matter for want of prosecution, Mr Simusamba said that Kambwili and Mwiinga have not made any meaningful progress in prosecuting the matter.
“That the first and third plaintiffs delay in prosecuting the matter is inordinate and inexcusable. That we pray that this is a proper case for the court to exercise its power and dismiss this matter for want of prosecution with costs to the defendant,” he submitted.
