Finish Chimese case, State ordered

CHARLES MUSONDA writes@sunzambianTHE Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has ordered the State to finish the case in which former Zambia Air Force (ZAF) Commander Eric Chimese is charged with being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.Lusaka Magistrate Nsunge Chanda issued the order yesterday after the case came up for mention and fixing of new trial dates.Ms. Chanda said the State should line up all the remaining witnesses and ensure the case is concluded when it comes up on February 1, 2, and 4, 2021 for continued trial.She observed that the case has taken too long to finish since it started last year.The case, which started in early 2019, has of late failed to take off on some occasions on account of the State’s failure to secure attendance of remaining witnesses.Chimese is jointly charged with Chita Lodge Limited director James Chungu and the main allegation is that the former ZAF boss concealed a two-storey house and nine fully furnished apartments in the latter’s name.In March this year, a witness from the Ministry of Lands testified that Chita Lodge Limited has a genuine certificate of title for the farm on which the nine flats and the two-storey house have been built in Ibex Hill.Ministry of Lands registrar Rachael Tembo told the court that Chita Lodge Limited bought the farm number 2303/Q from a Mr. Godfrey Mulundika in July 2010.Ms. Tembo said she did not see any forgery in the title deed for Chita Lodge and that it exists in the Ministry of Lands’ information system and records.She said she did not know the source of the forged copy of certificate of title that purported to show that Chimese is owner of the land and properties.“The copy showed to me by DEC (Drug Enforcement Commission) officers was forged and it is a forged document. The DEC officers didn’t intimate where they got if from,” Ms. Tembo said.