Thursday, December 5, 2024

Court rules ACC can’t charge Ronald Chitotela over the same case

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Court has cleared former Tourism Minister Ronald Chitotela in the matter where he was charged with two counts of possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

Lusaka Principal Resident Magistrate Jennifer Bwalya said that the immunity granted to Mr Chitotela by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to stop him from prosecution is still in force and proceeding with the matter will be subjecting him to double punishment.

Magistrate Bwalya said proceeding with the matter while the said settlement undertaking remained in force would be subjecting the accused to the evils of some form of double jeopardy which the laws of Zambia frown upon.

She then ordered that Mr Chitotela be discharged with the charges herein and forthwith.

“I therefore agree and find that proceeding with the matter while the said settlement undertaking remained in force would be subjecting the accused to the evils of some form of double jeopardy which the laws of Zambia frown upon,” she said.

“I, therefore, order that Ronald Kaoma Chitotela be and hereby discharged with the charges herein and forthwith,” she added.

Meanwhile, Chitotela has described the matter as mare persecution adding that investigative wings should learn to fight the LAW and not individuals.

“They have been fighting me for a long time and I want to appeal to them to fight the law and not Chitotela,” he said with his lawyers saying that he has been vindicated because the case was unfounded.

35 COMMENTS

  1. Quote – “Lusaka Principal Resident Magistrate Jennifer Bwalya said that the immunity granted to Mr Chitotela by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to stop him from prosecution is still in force and proceeding with the matter will be subjecting him to double punishment.” Unquote.
    Exactly what I say about the ACC; they are a joke!

    #plant a tree please.

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  2. Tarino any comment. When we say it’s mere persecution you think we are supporting thieves.

    Tell your small god hakainde to leave investigative wings twork independently.

    This is the way a cases will go.

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  3. What I heard Chitotela say was that the ACC should fight corruption and not him, and in this case it’s been proven that they were fighting individuals and not corruption. My take on this is that it’s not like officers at ACC didn’t know that this matter won’t get anywhere. They knew but their hands were tied. This is how law enforcement officers behave when they don’t agree with instructions from their superiors. They’d arrest and push the case to the courts to decide, their role ends at effecting an arrest. There’s more confusion at ACC since its operations were moved to Community House, an illegal settlement in Forest 27

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  4. He is a theif……….

    It was proven He stole, and he was granted immunity after giving up some stolen money………..

    He is not innocent……..

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  5. Anyway, this happened during the ruthless Edgar Lungu regime where a prosecuting authority entered into an agreement with a plunderer by returning a paltry K100,000 and it was a done deal! Shame on Zambia. What a useless country we are

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  6. Do these people have people who have obtained degrees from University? Or they are doing these things in order to embarrass Hakainde and his Upnd? HH must open his eyes.

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  7. This was deliberate move by ACC. They never bothered to seal all the technical loopholes. The thief is set free again now for good. Please find out if he paid correct TAXES on all his income…Where is ZRA ?

  8. If ACC give immunity and re arrest then the
    Judge is right.where is the logic for ACC to
    Arrest? I think ACC should be disbanded
    As nothing is coming out of all arrests.

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  9. Lawyers love this ‘money making’ season. Always after every general election our lawyers celebrate

  10. pathetic! If Lungu’s was ILLEGAL so is Chitotela’s “agreement” with whoever it was – AG why the dilly-dallying, it’s HAMMERTIME, bare-knuckles for the country and people, GET GOING !!!

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  11. This is how myopic and sick some people are…………..driven by tribal hatred

    Chitotela is a proven theif……….he paid back some of the stolen money…………not all.

    Instead of questioning the system that let chitotela off with a loss of revenue for zambia……………

    We have people questioning the system for trying to make him accountable………..

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  12. This is a prof that under UPND there is rule and order under PF UPND member can never get this fairness God we thank you for UPND.

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  13. It’s high time the Anti-Corruption Commission was put on the spot. I doubt it they’re up to the task. We’re sending people to fight a war fir us which we have not sufficiently trained them for.

  14. Mwanyala bafikili. Those saying arrest kaizar, I am here bored of waiting. What are you scared of ? Could it be that I have alot of evidence incriminating upnd leaders including hh

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  15. Why are people calling me a COW ?... Why is my tribe TONGA not spoken enough in Zambia like Bemba & Nyanja Why are people calling me a COW ?... Why is my tribe TONGA not spoken enough in Zambia like Bemba & Nyanja

    ACC …. Kiki Kiki Kiki……

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  16. No surprise here. ACC did grant him immunity from prosecution, they now claim they will appeal because he did not disclose everything fully. The condition of granting immunity is premised on full and total disclosure.
    The fault in this case is with ACC, they should have listed all the property and done their investigation.
    Taking a suspect’s word without undertaking a thorough investigation is laziness on their part.
    Let’s see how the appeal works.
    I must emphasize that ACC re arrested because the President on his praise conference, I mean press, spoke about this case and said that the state will recover what that person stole.
    Chitotela may sue ACC for this, and guess who loses out?

  17. @18 Chiza Chirwa totally agree with you. The condition of that immunity as stipulated in the Act is premised on FUUL AND TOTAL DISCLOSURE OF OTHER ASSETS ACQUIRED THROUGH CORRUPTION. That condition was not met by thief Chitotela. To the contrary, Ronald Chitotela concealed properties, assets and cash in the name of other people. That has clearly breached his immunity condition and consequences will mean the law visiting him through ACC. So, an appeal has been made against that magistrate court ruling. Remember UPND want to follow the law and as it says “He who seeks equity or justice must come to court with equity. So, recovery of stolen assets continues.

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  18. My take on this….there’s a very big difference between fighting corruption and fighting individuals…and why only targeting Politicians…there’s corruption at every stage in Zambia…even when you go to seek medical help at UTH….you have to bribe someone in order to be attended to on-time…HH in your face now all the PF Bandits will start lawsuits against the government

  19. Henry – You must be thick as minced meat or just a thief…surely is there anything to celebrate about here? This man stole millions of dollars of your childrens money then signed immunity with ACC in 2019 for K100,000…this case was a waste of time but it pains me that shoplifters stealing something to put on the tableare being put away for months whilst this moron is splashing stole money about and can never be arrested…all because of the corrupt regime of Lazy Lungu. Imagine 5 more years of them ..oh my god

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  20. Yep……..

    Just like in bankruptcy cases, if you hide assets and are later found out……….

    Your bankruptcy deal is null and void………..

  21. Would you pay a fine if you have not done anything wrong? He admitted to wrong doing and cut a deal with who ever was in charge. Maddam Chirwa and her newArmy need to wise up. Chitotela is not a mungeli.

  22. UPND Cadre…. -That was not what this case was about…I remember ZWD writing something like this issuing of immunity for ministers who had been called in for questioning I am sure Dr Chilufya has immunity.

  23. This case is similar to Milingo.They
    Strike a deal and later on cry.ACC
    Did give chitotela a deal for meagre K100000 and immunity. NOW they want to Appeal.I thought
    Lady chirwa would do a good job.
    ACC should be disbanded.

  24. The president in his press conference:
    1) Mentioned Nakachinda…. Nakachinda was arrested the following day
    2) Mentioned Bowman.. Bowman was arrested the following day
    3) Mentioned Chitotela… Chitotela was arrested the following day.
    This makes the ACC to operate like a dog which catches game for the master but doesn’t know why.

  25. Deja Vu – Dont worry you will have time to see your three mates in prison one day and catch up on good time!!

  26. #28 Tarino Orange ls that a threat? If it’s it’s wasted. Why would I join them? Maybe for opposing Kainde?

  27. It is very interesting to see that PF actually had some interesting legal advice after all. Whatever is happening is a legal minefield that will take some time to disentangle. ACC and other institutions were complicit in a lot of useless posturing during PF rule. This is now the result.

  28. Moto… wouldn’t the appeal be a mere face saver? It would be very interesting to hear the grounds of appeal. Maybe bringing up a fresh case would do?

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