Mukandila forgery case stalls
By Charles Musonda
TRIAL in a case in which Tonse-Pamodzi Alliance national secretary and lawyer Celestine Mukandila is charged with forgery and uttering false documents has failed to take off in a Lusaka magistrates court.
The State informed magistrate Anna Holland it was not ready.
The case was yesterday scheduled for commencement of trial before the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) state advocate Gertrude Mwila told the court it was not ready to proceed with trial.
“However, we are not ready to proceed with trial due to the fact that we are still putting our house in order and therefore we apply for an adjournment of the matter to a later date convenient to the court,” Mwila said.
Lawyers representing Mukandila did not object to the state’s application for the adjournment.
Magistrate Holland adjourned the case to November 6 and extended Mukandila’s bail.
Mukandila has pleaded not guilty to all four counts he is facing relating to the surrender of shares in ZRIMS Farm Limited belonging to Yae es Salim, allegedly committed between July 14, 2022 and July 25, 2024.
He was initially arrested by the Immigration Department on citizenship issues before he was charged with the subject offence.
And Lusaka Magistrate Webster Milumbe has issued a bench warrant against former Nkana member of Parliament Binwell Mpundu for failing to appear in court yesterday.
Milumbe issued the bench warrant following an application made by senior public prosecutor Abraham Ngozo.
“I order that a bench warrant is issued against the accused person, returnable on 2nd November, 2026,” he said.
He also summoned sureties to come and explain Mpundu’s whereabouts.
In this case, Mpundu has been charged with seditious practices, and the case was scheduled for ruling on whether or not he has a case to answer.
Ends.
