Sun, 04 Dec 2016 10:13:25 +0000 By David Julian Wightman Well-known Lusaka musician Michael Chanda has been convicted of cannabis trafficking after changing his plea in Lusaka Magistrates court Friday. Appearing before Magistrate Munalula Mubita, Mr Chanda surprised supporters in attendance by changing his long-held not guilty plea in what appeared to be a plea-bargain between his lawyer, Osborne Ngoma, and Drug Enforcement Commission prosecutors. Mr Chanda was initially arrested on 23 July on his Ng’ombe farm as he and his fellow Rastafarians were preparing for a concert to celebrate the birth of late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Heavy armed DEC agents raided the farm in what the commission prosecutor called a “routine operation” but what participants claim was an exercise in police brutality in which bullets were fired in the air, many revelers were beaten, and one juvenile had his arm broken by DEC officers. Nineteen Rastafarians including Mr Chanda were picked up in […]
