AMAN and his girlfriend have been sentenced to death by hanging for killing their friend during his birthday party at Livingstone Golf Club. This is in a case Nkandu Musonda, 23, and Emeldah Mumba, 22, of Libuyu township, were charged with murder. On January 13 this year in Livingstone, while acting together with other unknown people, Musonda and Mumba killed Edwin Mungala.

Delivering judgment, Judge Mwamba Chanda said she had considered the evidence before the court and was satisfied with it. Judge Chanda said according to the findings of a pathologist, Mr Mungala’s death was caused by the impact of a plank Musonda and Mumba used to hit him. She said the pathologist’s report also indicated that Mr Mungala sustained broken ribs. Judge Chanda said according to the evidence presented in court, Musonda refused to take Mr Mungala to hospital for fear that police would know about what he had done.

She said it was also illogical that Musonda denied knowing Mr Mungala but decided to take him to Libuyu township from the golf club after injuring him. Judge Chanda said if Mr Mungala was drunk, Musonda would have asked the taxi driver to take him to Libuyu since the two lived in the same township.

Police spokesperson Esther Katongo said in a statement yesterday that the gruesome incident happened around 02:00 hours on Airport Road, near the National Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research. “Police at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport on Sunday around 11:05 hours received a report of attempted murder. “Involved is Kenneth Taguta, 47, of Garden House in Lusaka, who went to pick his wife Lilian Kasalika, 45, who was coming from Nairobi, Kenya,” Ms Katongo said.

After picking his wife, Mr Taguta, who was also accompanied by his 14-yearold daughter, started driving back home. “On their way on Airport Road, the couple picked a quarrel and the husband opened the front passenger door, where the wife was pushed out [of a Toyota Prado]. She landed on the ground with the head,” Ms Katongo said.

Ms Kasalika sustained multiple injuries and became unconscious before being rushed to Levy Mwanawasa Hospital for treatment. “She was bleeding through the nose and was unable to talk,” Ms Katongo said. Police are holding Mr Taguta. As at noon yesterday, Ms Kasalika was still receiving treatment and authorities at Levy Mwanawasa Hospital said she will only be discharged when her condition “dictates so”.

Minister of National Guidance and Religious Affairs Godfridah Sumaili has described the incident as saddening. Reverend Sumaili said the law should take its course. And in the Kitwe fire incident, the occupants of the house reportedly went out to drink and only returned around midnight. It was then that the house caught fire, killing Edwin Mthetwa, a South African working for E and I Limited, a contractor engaged by Mopani Copper Mines. The survivors are Anthony Koch, 40, David Phiri, 46, and Jack Kockmore, 23.

A check by the Daily Mail at the house on Kaleni Road found most rooms and households reduced to debris as Zesco workers tried to establish the cause of the fire. Narrating the ordeal, Mr Koch said he was awakened by some ‘funny noise’ around 01:50 hours and later discovered that the kitchen was in flames. He rushed to the bedrooms to alert his colleagues but failed to locate one of them, who he later discovered was in the living room.

Attempts to save him failed. Kitwe district chief fire officer Rabson Mbawa received an alert about the house fire at 02:07 hours. Mr Mbawa said preliminary investigations indicate that after the house occupants returned from a drink-up, one of them decided to start cooking but went to the lounge to rest a bit and fell asleep. Mr Mthetwa’s body is in the Kitwe Teaching Hospital mortuary.

She said Musonda’s actions were intended to hide something about what had happened to Mr Mungala. Judge Chanda said the witnesses who were called to testify in the matter described the incident in great detail but failed to explain how Mr Mungala sustained the injuries. She also said the three State witnesses who saw what transpired at the golf club opted not to explain anything before the court.

Judge Chanda said if Mr Mungala’s death was by misadventure, Musonda and Mumba would not have been scared to report the matter to the police. She said Musonda played a “critical role” and tried to hide how he moved from the golf club but just dumped Mr Mungala in Libuyu near his home. Judge Chanda said she had not found any extenuating circumstances in the matter. Delivering the sentence, Judge Chanda said she was satisfied that the prosecutions team had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and found Musonda guilty of murder.

Judge Chanda said Mumba was advised that Mr Mungala ought to be taken to the hospital but she did nothing and decided to keep quiet when the law is clear on aiding or abetting a crime. Judge Chanda explained that when a person commits an offence and someone else knows about it but does not report to the police, he or she is also liable just like the one who committed the offence. Judge Chanda sentenced Musonda and Mumba to death for murdering Mr Mungala.

“I hereby direct that you be hanged by the neck until you are pronounced dead,” she said. Meanwhile, there was wailing and weeping in court by relatives and friends of Musonda and Mumba as the judge walked out of the court room.