A LUSAKA youth who was released from a correctional facility after serving a three month jail term for assault is going back into incarceration for five years now after being found guilty of beating two people at a bar. This is in a case Zaza Chakwilo, 23, of Westwood in Lusaka, was facing two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

On January 27 this year in Lusaka, Chakwilo assaulted Mathews Kalumanya and Mary Shimpande thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm. In the second count, it was alleged that on February 2 this year, Chakwilo assaulted Mathews Kalumanya and Mary Shimpande and occasioned them actual bodily harm. Chakwilo pleaded guilty to the charges.

Facts of the case are that on January 27 this year, Mr Kalumanya was drinking at a bar in Wasala, Westwood, when he saw two women fighting and decided to separate them. At this point, Chakwilo immediately appeared and demanded that: “Mr Kalumanya should not stop the fight because he [Chakwilo] wanted the women to continue fighting.” Mr Kalumanya managed to separate the women. The court heard that at this point, Chakwilo appeared with a knife and struck Mr Kalumanya on the left forearm, punched him, and left him unconscious. The victim was later picked by some members of the public, who took him to Villa Lucia Police and later to the hospital.

Facts in the second count are that on February 2, Ms Shimpande went to the same bar in Wasala, where she started talking to her boyfriend, who later got her phone. In the process, the two started arguing. At this point, Chakwilo arrived and hit Ms Shimpande. In mitigation, the court learnt that Chakwilo was a second offender who was convicted of a similar offence in December last year.

Chakwilo apologised to the court and the complainant for his actions. But Lusaka resident magistrate Lameck Mwale said it was clear that Chakwilo did not learn a lesson from his previous conviction. “In count one, I sentence you to 24 months, and in the second count, I sentence you to 36 months imprisonment with hard labour. The sentences will run consecutively,” he said.