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Mwamba Siame, also known as Mayweather, is a top commander of the Tokota Boys gang and has been in hiding since May 2018 |
By Paul Shalala
The Kitwe High Court has
found 18 out of the 19 suspected members of the Tokota Boys gang with a case to
answer.
This is in a case where
the gang members are jointly charged on three separate charges.
The charges are acts
intended to cause grivious harm, unlawful wounding or poisoning and kidnapping
and abduction.
The 19 Tokota Boys were
arrested in May this year after a video in which they were assaulting a 17 year
old teenager of Mulenga Compound went viral on social media.
The assault on the boy,
in which he was stoned, beaten with a stick and forced to eat his own faeces,
was allegedly committed on 30 April this year.
Passing ruling on
Monday, Kitwe High Court Judge-In-Charge Timothy Katanekwa said he was
satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that 18 of the 19 suspects committed the
offences.
He said the state found
a prima facie case in the matter and he has since found them with a case to
answer and put them on their defence.
"From the evidence adduced by the state, any reasonable tribunal can convict the 18 suspects," said Justice Katanekwa.
At this stage, the 18
Tokota Boys have three options of defending themselves in court:
They can choose to be
silent, they can give evidence on oath, or they can elect not to give evidence
on oath.
And Justice Katanekwa
has acquitted the 19th suspected member of the Tokota Boys gang
who was not at the scene the day the assault of the teenager happened.
In acquitting Lazarous
Zulu, Justice Katanekwa said the victim clearly stated that the suspect
was not at the scene and the identification parade conducted by the Police
cannot be relied upon.
Before the judge could even finish his ruling, Lazarous was already on his way out of the courtroom in excitement.
Meanwhile, a medical
examination has disclosed that one of the two suspected Tokota Boys who
contested their age is a minor.
According to results of
a medical examination read in court, one of the boys is aged between 13 and 14
and the other is either 18 years or above.
However, Justice
Katanekwa has decided to treat both suspects as juveniles after the
defence applied that the production of birth records by the mother of the boy
considered 18 years be also treated as a minor.
Meanwhile, all the 18
Tokota Boys who were put on their defence have opted to testify under oath.
Legal Aid lawyer
Mwendalubi Kapukutula informed the court that the suspects will call witnesses.
The first of the
suspects to testify yesterday was Limbikani Phiri who is suspected to have sold
out the 17 year old teenager before he was assaulted.
Limbikani told the
Kitwe High Court that the victim was beaten by Mwamba Siame popularly known as
Mayweather for allegedly belonging to The Hundreds gang which is also called Ba
Zale.
In his testimony
before court a month ago, the victim told the court that his friend Limbikani
had sold him off to the Tokota Boys.
Putting up his
defence, Limbikani said the victim told him that he had been beaten by
Mayweather for allegedly being a member of a rival gang.
He said that on 30
April this year, he was among many youths from Mulenga and Ndeke Compounds who
went to do piece works at Mindolo North.
He explained that they
were hired by Mayweather to go and dig for low grade copper and malachite but
when they reached there, Mayweather beat up the victim with a huge stick.
Limbikani however
denied personally watching the teenager being beaten as he claims to have gone
to collect sacks of malachite during the assault.
He revealed that
Mayweather deals in minerals and supplies low grade copper and malachite to
trucks which ferry the minerals every day after his workers finish loading them
into sacks.
Mayweather is on the
run and was not arrested in May this year when Police conducted a round-up of
gangs across Kitwe.
And in cross
examination led by State Advocate Jinjimali Mpopwe-Sililo, Limbikani denied
ever seeing the victim naked or being fed faeces.
But when reminded by
Ms Mpopwe-Sililo that he watched a video in court where the victim was shown
naked, imbikani maintained that he never saw him naked on the material day.
The second suspect to
put up his defence was a juvenile who we will not name for ethical reasons.
The juvenile gave
similar testimony with Limbikani though he made a few points which were
contrally, leading the state to challenge on who was lying between him and
Limbikani.
The case has been adjourned
to this afternoon for continued defence.
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