Accountant recalls suspicions in Muleya case

Accountant recalls suspicions in Muleya case

By Charles Musonda

A PROSECUTION witness has testified that he became suspicious of the instruction he was asked to take to the bank by one of the men, believed to be on the run, suspected of killing Guntila Muleya, the then Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) director general.

The witness, Numeo Chola Mulenga, who is a management accountant at IBA, said he was given the instruction amounting to over K549,000 as a payment towards a Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) liability by Peter Hambiya on July 24, 2025, a day after Muleya’ s murder was confirmed.

Mulenga said he became suspicious because two days earlier, Hambiya, who was then the financial accountant, had prepared and taken to the bank an initial payment of more than K462,000 to ZRA for the same liability.

The witness, who was still an intern queried Hambiya on the second payment, who responded that IBA owed ZRA more than K7 million.

“The following week we were given special leave, the whole institution, so that auditors could do their forensic audit properly. After that some IBA staff were being called of which I was part to provide supporting documents towards their audit,” Mulenga said.

He said this yesterday before Lusaka High Court Judge Vincent Siloka in a case four men have been accused of murdering Muleya whose body was found with gunshot wounds in Njolwe area.

The accused persons are Francis Chipyoka, 42, M’Thusani Baza Dokowe, 29, a police officer, Alex Caleb Zulu, 30, also a police officer, and Samuel Baza Dokowe, 37, an engineer.

Mulenga told the court that at the point of auditing he noticed that the bank statements the auditors were using and those he was given by Hambiya to work on the bank reconciliation were different.

“The ones I was given by Peter Hambiya had some missing figures compared to the ones the auditors were using,” he said.

In cross examination, Mulenga said he was not aware that Hambiya had an altercation with Muleya.

He said he was aware that Hambiya had applied for leave but was denied.

The trial continues today.