UPND’S MUCHELEKA, THREE OTHERS DISCHARGED

By STEPHEN MWEWATHE court has discharged UPND Deputy Secretary General Patrick Mucheleka along with three others for the case of aggravated robbery.Kasama Principal Resident Magistrate, Osward Chibalo, discharged the UPND officials after the state entered a nolle prosequi.The suspects have been remanded in Milima Correctional Facility since September 13, this year.Mucheleka, Elias Mubanga, Samuel Ngwila and Chinyimba Bwalya were initially charged with aggravated robbery for allegedly having used violence to steal NRC issuance machines from Ministry of Home Affairs.The offence was alleged to have been committed while Government workers were conducting mobile registration exercise in Kasama’s Chitamba Village on September 13, this year.When the matter came up yesterday for mention, Northern Province Deputy Chief State Advocate Richard Masempela informed the magistrate that the State had entered nolle-prosequi.However, the State maintained the second count of malicious damage and substituted the indictment to include Kelvin Bwalya as a fifth accused person.This is in connection with damaging two typewriters and a kiosk on the same day.The court has since granted K10,000 cash bail for each accused person with two working sureties, after their lawyer Mulambo Haimbe made an application.UPND president Hakainde Hichilema who attended the court session has since paid the money for all the accused persons who will appear before the court on 26th and 27th November 2020, for trial.