Fugitive Tayali costs MPs K50,000 apiece

Fugitive Tayali costs MPs K50,000 apiece

 By Esther Chisola

A LUSAKA magistrate has ordered two members of Parliament (MPs) Francis Kapyango and Lukas Simumba, to pay K50,000 each or face two months imprisonment for failing to produce Chilufya Tayali in court.

Magistrate Silvia Munyinya issued the order after Simumba, MP for Nakonde, and Kapyanga (Mpika) failed to explain to her why Tayali was not before her.

On Wednesday, the court ordered Tayali’s sureties to explain his disappearance.

And when the matter came up for explanation yesterday, Simumba and Kampyongo failed to explain the whereabouts of Tayali.

Munyinya then ordered that the two MPs pay K50,000 each or face two months imprisonment.

“Since the whereabouts of the accused is unknown, I order that the sureties pay K50,000 in default two months imprisonment,” she ruled.

Tayali has been absconding from court proceedings for about a year now without any reasons.

The opposition Economic and Equity Party (EEP) leader was taken  to court for alleging that Chief Monokalia Mukuni of the Toka Leya people of Livingstone was the brainchild behind the gassing which rocked the country between 2019 and 2022.

It is alleged that on November 10, 2022 in Lusaka, Tayali jointly and whilst acting together with other unknown persons, with intent to harass and cause emotional distress to Chief Mukuni, used a computer system while live on his Facebook page dubbed EEP PRESIDENT CHILUFYA TAYALI to issue the defamatory statement.

“People talk about gassing, gassing; Ba Hakainde Hichilema you know about gassing; do you hear Hakainde Hichilema talk about some of these sabotages which were going on? Traditional leaders were involved in those things; I know persons here and there; ask Chief Mukuni you know better; Chief Mukuni was not sleeping; he was sleeping at Golden Peacock; that is where he was staying and things were happening all over the country; while you were inside. What I have told you today is the truth and you can arrest me for it; Chief Mukuni knows even what I am talking about,” Tayali is alleged to have said.