Kajilo Muzungu, son of losing MMD Mufumbwe constituency candidate Mulondwe Muzungu, has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on each of three counts of manslaughter contrary to section 199 of the penal code Cap 87 of the laws of Zambia.
The sentences will run concurrently and this means he will only serve a 10 year sentence on all the three counts.
Kitwe High court Judge, Justice Isaac Chali sitting in Solwezi found Kajilo with a case to answer on all the three counts after the state called in 10 witnesses to testify.
Particulars of the offence were that on 30th April 2010 in Mufumbwe district on the Mutanda- Chavuma road, Kajilo unlawfully caused the death of three juveniles aged between eight and 12 years old by hitting them with a vehicle.
He had in his plea, pleaded not guilty.
Giving evidence in defence, Kajilo said while driving from Kakikasa, where the MMD had set up its camp going to Chizela area around 05:00 hours, he saw a mob comprising mostly youths who had machetes and sticks in front of him that had covered the entire road.
He said he hooted and flicked the lights of the vehicle as a way of asking his way through but the crowd did not respond.
Kajilo said from the non response of the crowd, he realized that his vehicle had been identified because of the posters that it carried.
He says because of the prevailing political situation during the campaign period and his own experience of being attacked, Kajilo realized that his life was in danger.
He added that it was then that he decided to maneuver in the crowd to find his way and in the process knocked down five people three of whom died and two sustained injuries.
But passing judgment, Justice Chali said from the evidence given by prosecution witnesses and the postmortem reports, there were no intervening circumstances to show that the deceased died from other injuries other than those sustained from the accident.
Justice Chali observed that the witnesses said Kajilo drove in a zig-zag manner which had been confirmed by the sketch plan drawn by the police officer who went to the accident scene and his own evidence that he tried to maneuver to find his way from left to right.
He inevitably concluded that despite the volatile environment in the area and the danger that Kajilo claimed to have faced amidst the mob, his vehicle was not scratched or damaged which showed that the mob was not armed.
The Judge said Kajilo’s conduct was bad as he should have avoided driving through the crowd by driving back upon discovering that the mob was hostile but proceeded to hit people on either side of the road.
Kajilo pleaded for maximum leniency from the court saying he regretted the incident that happened adding that he was currently on medication for a liver complication and had family and civic duties as he represented the Chizela royal establishment in the council.
Justice Chali said the circumstances under which the incident occurred compelled him to punish Kajilo severely.
[ ZNBC ]
It’s a lesson to all, by belonging to the ruling party does not constitute bucintonfwa.
Bout time too!
Wow! Thats wonderful!. But he needed minimum 25 years, what he did was evil. People shud not do evil and hope to be protected because of their connections with the ‘powers that be’. I love this news, only that i expected longer sentence!
He He kajilo goes in 10yrs.
The sad part is the 3 people killed will not be brought BACK to Life.
10 yrs is enough to get banged from behind….by the time he comes out, its arvs chabe
Defilement minimum is 15years,Killing 3people is surely less than than defilement? The ***** should have been sent to jail for 30 years atleast.
Now where are those PF sycophants who were blogging that MMD was sheilding this criminal?
No one is above the law. Justice has been well served here.
Though families lost their loved ones, hope this judgement brings relief and some form of closure.
#7 stop your oral diarrhoea. This kajila is just a small fish in the sea. What do you about commander-in-chief of all pompwes….Ka chiluba?
Is it not your repressive MMD govt that let this ka pompwe, small but with long fingers off the justice hook?
10 years for killing 3 young souls is a big joke. How could it be manslaughter when it was clearly a case of causing death by dangerous driving. He needed to go in for life without the possibility of parole. If MMD wins in 2011 he may be released within a year or two on the so called parole for good behaviour.
He needed a life imprisonment or its equivalent (say 40 years in jail). He is a big fool
Justice has been done and its time for Kajilo Muzungu to reap what he sowed. In fact he lucky to have been slapped with a 10 year setence on each account to run concurrently. The chap got excited thinking the whole Mufumbwe belonged to him and his father.
knowing how the system operates in Zambia, he wont save the sentence
concurrent jail sentences? what a load of trash! that is unfair! what he did was intentional. in as much as he knew that he could’ve turned back ’till it was safe he also knew that he’d risk running over people if he drove through the crowd.. for him to actually kill then he must’ve been driving relatively fast, too!
To add salt to the wound, his father lost!
Dear Zambians,
Please do not be fooled by this “sentence”. That boy will not serve, this is damage control. I have worked in the system before. During the Chiluba era, there was a son of a “VIP” who was similiarly sentenced. He left the courthouse in an OP vehicle and was shipped abroad. This is not a concoction but truth. A recent and more public example- Dr. Kashiwa Bulaya serves out his sentence at UTH… I pity those of you who are believers in Zambian Justice.
mwanuchita bwino chi kala uyu
I hope his liver condition caused by excessive intake of tujilijili can do justice to him.
mukakeni uyo chikala, we dont need such pipo in society.
A convict is a convict whether you serve in UTH as a result of some favour you are still a convict…in Zed we have long forgotten that a good name is better than any riches..even the son of a ‘VIP’ who was purportedly taken abroad will oneday want to fill out a form for a visa…on that application there is a cardinal question..’Have you ever been convicted for an offence other than a simple traffic offence?’..I leave the rest to your imagination.
He won’t save the all sentence,they are just trying to decieve us.am waiting for Dr musonda to be panished then will i be a bit convinced about the no one is above the law.
Fellow zambians,this is not something to rejoyce,the guy is a very humble guy and didn’t mean to kill the children.He never even expected this to happen to him in his life.Yes life was lost it is unfortunate.
As for those who are cereblating his sentence You too don’t know if at all you either kill somebody or test the Jail sentence oneday.Sorry he is my childhood friend and am not saying killing people is a good thing No! God be with you all.
This tells that what ever one will do it has a consequence. If government was not going to do it, God was going to do it in a different way. However, let him confence and ask for forgiveness from both the family and unto God.
For now, let him save till 10 is over.
Dont fool yourselves, this guy like Chris Chalwe will soon be on the streets
This must be kapangila muzungu’s brother. I feel sorry for him. Jailing him wont bring back the dead people. let him fully compensate the families instead if it means him getting broke then so be it.
for once ..Zambian people are glad such an ***** has been caged..viva !!
Great news but i wished he got atleast 20 years if not more.This should sent shock waves to doc Musonda who shot and injured a defenceless PF cadre.
That was murder but why was he charged with a lesser offence of manslaughter.
This case had all the ingredients of murder as Kalijo had the “intention to kill or intention to cause Grievous Bodily Harm” knowing very well what a car does when it hits a human being.
Fair judgment?
Too little punishment
Too bad
At least justice have been done.
The President’s prerogative of mercy is pending. Recall FTJ and the deputy minister who clobbered somebody to death? You just have to be with the “right” party !
I we will soon be released. Chalwe the MMD chairman of Lusaka district only stayed in jail for two days. That is how MMD operates.
so sad indeed, this is a brother to me and people got excited and actually threatened his life. It is sad things had to end this way, hopefully he can appeal and the supreme court can look into this case. One question i have is, did he follow those people away from the street or actually hit them as on the road. Those are all things to consider. And all of you rejoicing here, when will you learn to just see things for what they are and not just yap bacause you have computers in front of you?
#34, the judge said his vehicle had no scratches implying he was not attacked by any one or probably he was hallucinating that he was being hacked and so he decided to ram his machine into ibumba lya bantu! why didnt he reverse and go back where he was coming from which was a safe place since it was an MMD gathering from where he was coming from. 3 dead people are not equivalent to 10 years. lives have been lost forever because of CARELESS DRIVING or DRIVING WITH INTENT TO KILL. No one is happy that some one is going to prison but we also MUST consider the bereaved families
Its unfotunate bt jst pray tht judgement givn by the suprime cort wil b fair
Boi kapangila sorry abt ur bro
2bad 4 yo bro kapangila my friend.i hav a strong feeling he wil b relised