KABUSWE’S WITNESSES CONTRADICT THEMSELVES AS JUDGE ADJOURNS CHILILABOMBWE PETITION TO MONDAY
By Festus Ivwananji Sinkala
The Chililabombwe parliamentary petition took a dramatic turn on Friday as two more witnesses testified before the Kitwe High Court sitting in Chingola before Justice Lastone Mwanabo, Judge-in-Charge.
The petition was filed by losing UPND candidate Paul Chanda Kabuswe, who polled 8,986 votes, challenging the election of Resolute Party candidate Kabwe Nsofwa Lupele, who won with 10,920 votes.
The witnesses, Stephen Mulenga, 47, of Kamenza East and Witika Mulenga, 42, of Kakoso South, bring the total heard so far to six since trial started on 14th October 2026.
Testifying as the fifth witness, Stephen Mulenga claimed he was attacked by suspected Tonse Alliance cadres just after the railway crossing from Chingola to Chililabombwe, after visiting Fikolongo and Fitobaula polling stations in Chitambi Ward around 11:00 hours
He said he found the road blocked, spotted Robam Chansa and Justin Chansa, and alerted fellow party security members including Carol Mbela, Judy, Peter and driver Mr. Mulemena. He added that he was later persuaded to go to the TotalEnergies Filling Station in Chililabombwe.
However, his testimony, ran into trouble under cross-examination. Mulenga’s account clashed with that of earlier witness Patricia Bweupe, who told the court she was rescued by him, while he insisted it was the UPND security team that pulled him to safety with Patricia among them.
The contradictions deepened as he denied receiving distress calls from witnesses two, three and four, contrary to their evidence that they called him as their senior for help during the alleged attack.
He was further confronted with a prior witness statement in which the witness said she had called him for rescue and not the other way round, a position he later conceded. He also admitted that Mr. Nsofwa was not present at Fitobaula, Atheneon and Chiko polling stations.
The sixth witness, Witika Mulenga, stationed at Mother Angela Trust School Polling Centre Stream Two, alleged that Tonse Alliance District Chairperson Musonda Mwape, whom he described as Mr. Nsofwa’s campaign manager, had organised cadres at the polling station.
Witika alleged that Mwape organised more than 50 Tonse Alliance cadres who positioned themselves about three metres from Stream Two. He claimed he saw Mwape bribing voters who had left the queue to follow him, and that over 20 of those voters never returned to cast their votes. He further alleged that Mwape collected a phone number from a person in the queue.
This prompted Justice Mwanabo to intervene and guide the witness to be more specific, noting that there is a difference between collecting someone’s number and sending someone money.
Under cross-examination, Witika was pressed on how he knew Mwape was linked to Mr. Nsofwa. He said he had seen them together at Tonse Alliance meetings, but when counsel asked how a UPND member could attend rival meetings, he recanted and said he only saw them passing in vehicles during campaigns.
The record so far indicates that all witnesses have claimed Mr. Lupele stood on the Tonse Alliance ticket, which they allegedly saw on the ballot paper, yet official records show he stood on the Resolute Party ticket.
Justice Mwanabo adjourned the matter to Monday, 19th October 2026 at 09:00 hours after counsel for the 1st and 2nd respondents applied for time to prepare for cross-examination of the seventh witness.
TRUSTED NEWS REPORTER (TNR)