I’m a crowd puller, brags Lusambo
By Thandizo Banda in Kabwe
FORMER Lusaka Province minister Bowman Lusambo yesterday told a Kabwe magistrates court that as a seasoned politician, he attracts large crowds where ever he goes.
Lusambo, 48, was opening his defence in a case in which he is charged alongside four others with unlawful assembly.
He had earlier made an application to the court to shift the proceedings to Kabwe Shoprite Store to prove his popularity.
Defence lawyer Chandiwila Nyimbili from Makebi Zulu and Associates cited Supreme Court judgement number 12 of 1985 involving Edward Jack Shamwana and seven others vs The People, which empowers a court to move on site and conduct a view.
But state advocate Sikute Muliokela objected to the application saying it was unnecessary because it was common sense that people would gather when a scene was reconstructed.
Kabwe resident magistrate Gloria Chipasha threw out the application saying doing so would not be in the best interest of justice because it would not go to the root of the offence.
Lusambo, Patriotic Front (PF) Kabushi member of Parliament (MP), described his unlawful assembly charge as being politically motivated.
He denied having engaged in any act which could have caused fear in the near neighborhood.
If he had done so, people would have run away from the alleged scene instead of running towards him as the case was.
He accused police in Kabwe of being political and wondered why they had failed to arrest Kabwe-based timber traders who had recently defied their advice and protested in the central business district (CBD).
Lusambo tendered before court as part of his evidence The Mast newspaper edition number 4895 of May 6, 2025 carrying a story headlined ‘Kabwe Traders Defy Police Advise, Protest’ authored by Thandizo Banda to justify his claim of police being political and selective in their approach.
He told the court that he stopped over in Kabwe en route to Lusaka from Luanshya to buy a meat pie and refreshments at Staross Take Away and Restaurant and not Brimas as alleged when an excited crowd mobbed him which he greeted.
“To me such is normal as I’m a crowd puller. So I did not see anything wrong and left for Lusaka with police escort. But I was taken aback after two months to receive a call from Kabwe that I was wanted to answer to a charge of unlawful assembly,” Lusambo said.
He said the PF party had laid down procedure on how meetings should be convened.
“Ordinarily, if I was in Kabwe in my capacity as a national leader to hold a gathering as it is alleged, our party has a very organised procedure which demands that the secretary general writes the provincial chairman on my visit and agenda, which evidence is not before this honorable court,” Lusambo said.
He said none of the seven state witnesses had demonstrated how he and his co-accused apprehended fear among Kabwe residents.
PF Central Province chairman Billy Sichamba said he had not personally known Lusambo until on the material day.
Sichamba denied being part of the alleged unlawful assembly saying there was no such gathering as alleged and none of the witnesses had proven that in court.
Lusambo is charged alongside four other persons, including Sichamba, a director Saidi Chibwana, businessman Mathews Changwe and a bus conductor Martin Simfukwe.
It is alleged that on November 2, 2023 in Kabwe town when Lusambo en route to Lusaka from Luanshya made a brief stop at former Brimas Bus Stop to buy a meat pie and greeted a few people, an act which attracted the charge of unlawful assembly.
