Witness narrates petrol bomb plot
By JERRY MUNTHALIA WITNESS yesterday testified that former Ndola Cabinet Office Chief Accountant Innocent Hatombwe allegedly conspired with some of his former accounting staff to petrol-bomb the office and engage the services of a wizard to bewitch Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers to detract them from effectively carrying out their investigations.
Mr Solomon Mwila, 35, of 19 Broads Road, Fairview, Lusaka, a former accounts assistant at Cabinet Office in Ndola, said this when he testified before Ndola chief resident magistrate Kelvin Limbani in the Ndola magistrates’ court yesterday.
“We had meetings at Ndola’s Executive Lodge, and it was chaired by Mr Hatombwe. We had to find means of ensuring that the investigations by the DEC are not continued, and we had three plans,” Mr Mwila said.
He alleged that the first plan involved the burning of Cabinet Office and the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) using petrol bombs.
This is in a case in which seven Cabinet Office accountants in Ndola are charged with 28 counts of theft by public servant and three counts of money laundering involving over K895 million public money.
The seven accountants include Innocent Hatombwe, 39, chief accountant, John Musonda, 50, a principal accountant, Peter Kapesebele, 31, a former local government officer, Kennedy Mwale, 44, a cashier, Clement Liwena, 34, an accountant, Priscilla Mkandawire, 40, an assistant accountant and Loveness Changala, 40, an accountant.
Mr Mwila said after debating the matter, Hatombwe allegedly suggested that they use black magic to burn Cabinet Office and the OAG.
“He gave an example of what happened in Lusaka at the Zambia National Tender Board, and that we should do the same,” he said.
Mr Mwila said Hatombwe allegedly told the meeting that one officer, identified as Kabwe Mwale, had already travelled to Nchelenge to organise the wizard who would carry out the task.
“Mr Hatombwe suggested that people must volunteer to take the money to the witch doctor together with Mr Mwale, who was already in Nchelenge. I volunteered to go with Mr Abyudi Chisala,” Mr Mwila said.
He said Hatombwe allegedly suggested a second plan, which involved engaging a witch doctor who would steal documents from DEC officers at Cabinet Office and the OAG.
Mr Mwila said the final plan involved engaging the services of the wizard to afflict DEC investigators with swollen feet to stop them from carrying out their investigations.
He said those who attended the meeting included Liwena, Abyudi Chisala, David Banda, Changala, Susan Ncube, James Tembo, Elizabeth Simbule and Edith Munkondya.
Earlier, Mr Mwila told the court that when DEC officers closed the accounts unit at Cabinet Office, Hatombwe and other accounting staff who were suspended started having meetings on how to respond to their suspension letters and how to respond to the audit queries from the OAG.
He said Hatombwe allegedly engaged three women who were booked at a lodge to forge payment vouchers.
Mr Mwila identified the three as Mwangala Nalishuwa, Bridget Kapesebele and Edith Munkondya.
“After they wrote the vouchers, Mr Hatombwe used to bring them to me. We used to meet at Hilcrest filling station, and at that time, I used to live in Hilcrest,” Mr Mwila said.
He alleged that Hatombwe brought him the vouchers and a forged stamp for the internal auditor.
“I was working from home where I used to forge former assistant secretary Ellie Mulemwa’s signature and stamp the vouchers with the forged date stamp for the internal auditor,” Mr Mwila said.
He said Hatombwe also sent him to all the districts on the Copperbelt to look for receipts at filling stations and hardware shops. Mr Mwila said the receipts were used to make fake retirement of payments.
The trial continues.
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