High Court warns State over Mundubile bail delays
By Charles Musonda
THE Lusaka High Court has warned that it will proceed to deliver its ruling on the constitutional bail application by treason detainee Brian Mundubile, Makebi Zulu and 16 others if the parties fail to proceed with the matter on November 5.
The warning came yesterday when the case came up for possible hearing before a three-judge panel comprising Ndola High Court judge Derrick Mulenga, Davies Chibwili and Irene Wishimanga.
Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha, however, applied for an adjournment on grounds that the State needed more time to study a 32-page response filed by lawyers representing the 18 detainees.
The court granted the application and adjourned the matter to November 5 to allow the State to study the response and prepare its position.
But Milner Katolo, one of the lawyers representing the applicants, said it was shocking that the State was opposing their application for constitutional bail pending trial.
Katolo said the law was clear and provided guidelines governing the granting of bail in such circumstances.
He said the 18 applicants remained in high spirits despite their continued detention, except for Lusaka businessman Harry Valden Findlay, whose scheduled appointments for specialised cardiology treatment in South Africa had repeatedly been postponed.
Katolo said Findlay was now relying on medication as he awaited access to the specialised treatment.
And briefing journalists after the adjournment, Katolo said NPA prosecutors cannot operate in a vacuum as they were guided by laws and procedures.
He said one of the procedures was to follow the NPA manual.
“If you go to paragraph 59 of that manual, it expressly provides for types of bail that the courts can give. It talks about pre-trial bail; it talks about bail pending appeal and it talks about constitutional bail.
If you read what they themselves in their manual have said about constitutional bail, that is the one the court can give, where trial has been delayed, whether the matter is bailable or not,” he said.
Katolo said it was shocking that the prosecution was against the application when it was provided for in the NPA manual.
On October 14, 2026, the 18 applicants petitioned the Lusaka High Court for constitutional bail on grounds that their continued detention while investigations into the treason allegations were ongoing violated their constitutional rights.
The applicants are facing treason and prohibition of terrorism charges and are seeking an order for their release either unconditionally or under reasonable bail conditions to ensure their attendance at trial.
Those seeking bail include Mundubile, Zulu, George Chisanga, Patrick Mwansa, Bishop Trevor Mwamba, Francis Mulenga, Brazil Soko, Bernard Chewe, Davies Chisopa, Dickson Tembo, Victor Muzyamba and Findlay.
They are seeking an order for their release, either unconditionally or under reasonable bail conditions to ensure their attendance at trial.
