Court takes Masumba to task over Post Newspaper story

THE Supreme Court has asked convicted Mufumbwe Member of Parliament (MP) Steven Masumba to swear an affidavit that he did not cause the publication of an allegedly contemptuous  contemptuous article inThe Post newspaper in which he allegedly attacked the High Court over its decision to deny him bail.

 
This is in a matter in which Masumba has appealed to the Supreme Court to grant him bail pending appeal over the High Court’s decision to uphold his conviction and 12 months sentence that was slapped on him by the Lusaka Magistrate’s court in November last year.
High Court Judge Chalwe Mchenga had earlier upheld the conviction and sentence and later dismissed the former deputy minister’s request for bail pending appeal to the Supreme Court on grounds that his application lacked merit as it was not accompanied by grounds of appeal.
When the matter came up for hearing before acting deputy chief justice Marvin Mwanamwambwa, the Court said Masumba’s comment in The Post was contemptuous.
According to Masumba’s lawyer, Justice Mwanamwambwa said Masumba should swear an affidavit to show that he did not cause the publication of the article.
It is alleged that Masumba, in a hand-written complaint to The Post, said judge Mchenga’s throwing out of his bail application twice left much to be desired and noted that he had a right to appeal and that if it failed to succeed at Supreme Court, it would be his loss.
The matter, which was held in chambers, has been adjourned to November 19 this year.

Zambia Daily Mail