GBM not guilty of assault – Kitwe court

GBM

The Kitwe Magistrates Court has acquitted UPND vice-president Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba of the assault and malicious damage case he was facing.

In the run-up to the August 11, 2016 elections, GBM was arrested and charged with assault and malicious damage after he was accused of slapping a street vendor and damaging property worth K500.

But delivering judgment in a packed courtroom this morning, Magistrate Gilbert Maloto Phiri found GBM with no case to answer, describing the assault charge on as politically motivated.

Magistrate Phiri observed that the statements by the witnesses and those of the complainants did not coordinate.

He also noted that the statements they gave at the police and the statements they gave in court were not the same.

And reacting to the acquittal, GBM said the court’s decision has shamed the State.

“I have this morning been acquitted on all counts in a matter where I was charged with assault and malicious damage in the Kitwe Magistrate court. I was arrested at the height of elections last year on fake charges of slapping a street vendor and damaging property worth K500. Currently, I am facing two other matters in the Lusaka Magistrate Court and 1 other in the Luanshya Magistrate court,” GBM wrote on his Facebook page.

“For now all I can say is that all these matters are political and advise that we should not use state institutions to fight our battles. What is unfolding is an embarrassment to these state institutions, particularly the Zambia Police and brings in a lot of questions on the integrity and professionalism of the command. More embarrassments to come.”