‘Mary Tembo tried to revert car ownership’

A ROAD Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) senior manager has testified that suspended Copperbelt Province commissioner of police Mary Tembo tried to revert ownership of a Toyota Corolla to Grizzly Mining Limited but the process to facilitate change of ownership failed.

RTSA northern region senior manager Joseph Mumba told Ndola chief magistrate Paul Chisha yesterday that the process to change ownership of a Toyota Corolla registration number AAX 5617 failed because both parties in the agreement did not sign a document to facilitate the change.
Mr Mumba, 38, of flat number 3, Bank of Zambia Flats in Mitengo, Ndola said that on June 19 last year, an initial request to the agency to change ownership of the motor vehicle from Grizzly Mining to Tembo’s was successfully completed.
He explained to the court how a police officer identified as George Mulenga went to his office around 16.40 hours to apply for the change of ownership of the motor vehicle but he indicated to the officer that the official working hours of the agency are between 08.00 hours and 16.30 hours.
He also said he surrendered the papers back to Mr Mulenga because there was an anomaly on the documents that needed to be sorted by the two parties.
Mr Mumba also told the court that he could not proceed with the change of ownership from Tembo to Grizzly Mining as he had received instructions from the RTSA chief executive officer Zindaba Soko to report anything related to the motor vehicle in question as the matter was in public domain since the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had started investigating the issues surrounding the donation of the vehicle to Tembo.
He also told the court that Tembo phoned him and discussed the issue concerning the change of ownership of the vehicle.
Mr Mumba told the court that he discovered that Tembo had 12 vehicles in her name but the defence objected to this disclosure stating that the issue of how many vehicles she owned was not an issue, adding that the matter did not relate to the case before court.
Defence lawyer Milner Katolo said it was improper for the witness to start raising issues that would hurt the character of the accused person, adding that Tembo had personal liberties even though she was facing charges before the courts of law.
And Chisha responded that the issue the witness had raised was irrelevant to the case and that there was need for him to dwell on issues relevant to the court.
In cross-examination, Mr Katolo asked Mr Mumba whether he was concerned to know that Tembo wanted to revert ownership to Grizzly Mining but replied that RTSA was just a service provider to the members of the public, so the agency is not interested in knowing why an individual would want to change ownership of any vehicle.
Tembo, 53, of house number 4, Bokafu Street, in Ndola and plot 37 Lusaka West farms, is facing two counts of abuse of authority of office.
Particulars of the offence are that in the first count, it is alleged that Tembo, on dates unknown but between May 1 and June 30 last year, abused the authority of her office as commissioner of police by obtaining a Toyota Corolla registration number AAX 5716 from Grizzly Mining Limited which she registered in her names thereby obtaining benefits for herself.
In the second count, it is alleged that Tembo on dates unknown but between November 1 and December 31, 2012 in Ndola, abused her authority of office as commissioner of police by asking Grizzly Mining Limited, a private company, to repair her personal vehicle namely Toyota Cressida registration F100.
Trial in the matter continues.

Zambia Daily Mail