Sat, 17 Jun 2017 10:58:02 +0000
BY CHIKUMBI KATEBE
IT IS questionable for a magistrate to issue an order demanding the movement of a witness even before trial commences, a senior court official has observed.
This was in reaction to Subordinate Court Magistrate Ireen Wishimanga’s order to move treason suspect Hakainde Hichilema from Kabwe’s Mukobeko Maximum Prison to Lusaka Central Prison in order for him to attend court in a matter where he was a complainant.
The source said it was unprocedural that a court could issue an order for a prisoner, who was the complainant in this case, to be made available by the prison service even before trial begins.
The source explained that it was unjustifiable for any court to issue such instructions which could only be issued during trial and at the point of giving testimony to an on-going trial and not at a mere sight of a complaint.
“This is a bit too premature for any Court to make such an order at this stage because the complaint has just been lodged and the trial has not even started yet.
“Maybe if it was at the stage where the prisoner was supposed to give evidence or appear before court during the progression of a trial and not now when it is a mere complaint,” he said.
Magistrate Wishimanga yesterday issued an order of court demanding that Mukobeko Maximum Prison to move suspect Hichilema from Kabwe to Lusaka Central Prison in a matter in which he applied for commencement of contempt proceedings against Religious Affairs Minister Godfridah Sumaili.
In the order, Ms Wishimanga directed that Commissioner of Prisons at Mukobeko and at the Lusaka Central Prisons make necessary arrangements for the complainants to be brought before her by 19th June, 2017 and to be remanded in Lusaka until the end of trial.
But some judiciary officials expressed surprise at the order and said the magistrate overstepped her boundaries when she directed the Prisons Service on where to lodge a remandee.
They charged that the Judiciary’s mandate only went as far as issuing a remand notice in terms of incarceration and summons.
“We have summons for prisoners to come before court to give testimony, but those are issued only during trial and only when a person is supposed to testify in an on-going trial.
“But this is somewhat complicated because trial has not even begun. I do not see its purpose,” the source said.
