Court Jails Lusaka Man Who Made Minister Lubinda Cry

A Lusaka driver has been sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour after the court found him guilty of assaulting Justice minister Given Lubinda on 12th July, 2019.

Lusaka chief resident magistrate Lameck Mwale today sentenced Mr Martin Mambwe who was initially jointly charged with Patrick Mubanga, Major Chansa, Moses


Mulenga, and Goodson Mwale, all businessmen for proposing violence to Mr Lubinda, who is also Kabwata PF member of parliament.

Mr Mambwe was also facing a charge of assault.

However, her and four others were acquitted on a charge of proposing violence.

The magistrate however, found Mambwe with a case to answer for assaulting Mr Lubinda.

In his defence, he denied committing the offence, saying at the time of the alleged commissioning of the offence, he was sick and on tuberculosis treatment.

He said at the time Mr Lubinda accused him of assault, he could hardly walk.

But Mr Lubinda, who broke down as he recounted his ordeal, identified Mr Mambwe as the person who punched him in his face.

Delivering judgement, magistrate Mwale said he has carefully considered as a fact that Mr Lubinda on the material day was at Kabwata market and was assaulted as confirmed by witnesses and a medical report.

In mitigation through his lawyer Agrippa Mulando, Mr Mambwe said he was remorseful of his actions and stands at the mercy of the court.

He asked the court to exercise leniency as he is a family man with four children who in the hardship of time still look up to him.

Mr Mambwe said sending him to prison will aggravate the situation and prayed that the court gives him a non custodial sentence especially in the time of COVID-19 pandemic so that the court does not seem to add to the congestion in prisons.

He pledged that he will never offend anyone again as he has learnt from this criminal proceedings.

But in passing sentence, magistrate Mwale said he has taken into consideration the fact that Mr Mambwe was a first offender but noted with regret and concern the high level of political violence and intolerance.

He said the fact that the convict physically assaulted the complainant was not only retrogressive but barbaric as such, he would be failing in his duties if he allowed such to go unchecked.

“To deter would be offenders, the convict deserves a custodial sentence. I therefore sentence him to twenty four months with hard labour effective today,” magistrate Mwale said.

He granted Mr Mambwe 14 days in which to appeal if he was not happy with the judgement.