DESPITE having been granted free bail in the tune of K100, 000, FDD leader Edith Nawakwi could not make it home yesterday as she could not finalise the bail process.
Nawakwi is charged with two counts of Seditious practices before the Lusaka Magistrates Court over the utterances she made when Petauke Central member of parliament Emmanuel Jay Banda briefly disappeared on May 25.
The FDD leader is alleged to have agitated the citizenry to make the President, Hakainde Hichilema explain the whereabouts of Banda who was nowhere to be seen, an act aimed at raising discontent among the Zambian people.
Nawakwi accused the President and his government, together with inspector general of police Graphel Musamba of targeting young opposers like Jean Chisenga and Banda to instill fear, insecurity and fuel discords.
The words are said to have aimed at bringing government into contempt and causing it to be loathed by the citizenry.
Nawakwi denied the charges before magistrate Irene Wishimanga.
Thereafter her lawyer Sakwiba Sikota asked the Court to admit her to bail.
He said Nawakwi is currently undergoing medical treatment and since incarceration she has not been able to take her medication and receive the medical attention she requires.
“With the condition she has, she has to have blood samples taken regularly before she can take medication. She was in India receiving medical attention when she heard that a call out had been delivered to her through social postings in spite of that she immediately cut short the stay in India in order to come and answer to the charges,” Sikota said.
“She is somebody who is law abiding and highly unlikely to abscond. Arising from the incident upon which she is arrested there are others arrested of the same crime one of them being Brebner Changala who has been granted bail in his own recognizance by the High court.”
Sikota asked magistrate Wishimanga to follow precedence set in Changala’s case.
Borniface Chiwala asked the court not to attach stringent conditions in granting Nawakwi bail as she is not a flight risk and requested that she be granted bail in her own recognizance.
State advocate Sipholiano Phiri objected to the application saying Nawakwi wouldn’t be appearing before Court if at all she was law abiding.
“If this Court will be inclined to grant bail we pray that stringent measures be put in place.
The offense, the accused is charged with is punishable by imprisonment. The measure of offense committed and severity of punishment should be considered,” said Phiri.
“She is appearing before you because the State has found that she is not law abiding.”
In his reply Sikota said only the court can conclude that Nawakwi is not law abiding not the State.
“The submission by the State is throwing our constitution in the dustbin. If we do not give life to what is in the constitution we are consigning to its trashing,” said Sikota.
Ruling on the application, magistrate Wishimanga said bail is granted at the discretion of the Court and it should have taken long to have Nawakwi released.
She said it is not a must that precedence is followed as that is not the rule.
Magistrate Wishimanga said the law cannot be relaxed or compromised to suit the accused.
“The accused can not decide whether bail should be granted with sureties or not and this must be clear as bail is granted at the discretion of the Court. Since bail is granted at the discretion of the Court the accused is granted bail at K100,000 in her own recognizance with two working sureties from reputable organisations,” said magistrate Wishimanga.
Nawakwi’s sureties could not manage to sign for her release as it was beyond working hours
The matter was adjourned to July 8 for commencement of trial.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba June 5, 2024.
