By Daily Revelation Reporter
FDD president Edith Nawakwi says the case involving Pheluna and Milton Hatembo could have been left to die for the benefit of President Hakainde Hichilema.
On Monday, Nawakwi was taken to court on two charges of threatening to kill and kidnapping involving Pheluna and Milton.
Her case was allocated to magistrate Amy Masoja in her absence, but this did not please her saying she failed to understand how a matter was taken to court without notifying her or her lawyers.
Speaking to Daily Revelation, Nawakwi said if this matter would be pursued, all those people who got money from the state purporting to have been inconvenienced are the witnesses including President Hichilema.
“This matter could have been left to die to his benefit. But now all those people, if they want to pursue this thing, all those people who got money from the state purporting to have been inconvenienced are the witnesses including Hakainde Hichilema as witness number one on my list,” Nawakwi said.
She insisted that President Hichilema is the one who abducted Pheluna and Milton and was now scared, therefore, he has taken her to court to cover his “nakedness” on this particular issue.
“Everything is wrong, it points to one thing that Hakainde and his minions are trying to cover their nakedness on this particular issue,” she said.
And Nawakwi said the police had not served her with any summons to appear before court despite being in Lusaka.
She said she has only seen a story where the state has taken her to court for abducting and threatening to kill Pheluna and Milton Hatembo in the press.
“I have seen the story where it is reported that I have been taken to court. It doesn’t work like that. If the matter is coming for allocation, the suspect must be there,” Nawakwi said. That’s the problem, when appearing before court, you go before a resident magistrate. You are the suspect. The whole team, the accusers and everyone. And you are told you Edith you will appear before the judge so and so that’s the procedure. So you allocate a case in absence of the suspect. They haven’t told me that I am supposed to go to court, they have not sent summons.”
Nawakwi said the whole thing is improper.
“The reason is simple. The reason is that last week, you ourselves (Daily Revelation Newspaper), carried a story in which you interviewed Rachel Chileshe and then you interviewed Police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga where he said, “this matter is in court’,” Nawakwi said. “So now, you have caught Hamoonga with his pants down. The matter he was saying was in court wasn’t in court. That’s why I am telling you that they are covering their nakedness. And therefore, they have to rush and cover themselves and say no this matter …as spokesperson for the police, I told the world that it’s in court, it’s not even in court. Can you present it before court? This is the reason for breaking all manner of rules to appear that Edith Nawakwi is before a court.”
She said if President Hichilema had started a new court process, it just shows how scared, how petrified he is that a court session against suspects and accused persons can be conducted in their absence, saying it has never happened before.
Nawakwi also said the President was so embarrassed by this Pheluna issue that he is trying to cover his “nakedness.”
“Because people are saying when are you taking them? It’s just a cover up. It’s the same with Margareta, the one who said she was keeping them. She had gone to court and got court summons against me for defamation and circulated in the press. It’s for the purposes of you members of the fourth estate to believe that Nawakwi is before court. Me before which court. So the one who is before court is Hakainde Hichilema, not me,” said Nawakwi. “They are covering their nakedness. Hakainde is breaking every rule and you see, it is not even meant for justice to be done, it is meant for circulation so that you cover the incompetence of Hamoonga and his bosses.”
