GRACE CHAILE
Lusaka
TIKTOKER Francis Kapwepwe, popularly known as “Why Me”, yesterday cross-examined a state witness in court, after his lawyers stopped appearing in the case he is facing hate speech and cyberrelated charges.
Among the lawyers who ceased attending proceedings is Lusakabased counsel Jonas Zimba, leaving Kapwepwe to conduct his own defence before Lusaka principal resident magistrate Idah Phiri.
The courtroom gallery struggled to contain laughter as Kapwepwe, who used Bemba while an interpreter translated his questions into English, crossexamined a state witness from the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) over digital evidence presented before court.
The witness, Nawa Samatebele, director of digital infrastructure and resilience, testified on the handling and analysis of electronic evidence linked to the case.
Kapwepwe challenged the authenticity of videos submitted by the prosecution and questioned whether investigators could conclusively prove that he was the one who published the material.
He also questioned why ZICTA had retained his mobile phones.
“They were kept for digital forensic analysis,” Samatebele responded.
Kapwepwe also questioned whether ZICTA required physical phones to conduct investigations and if the authority could determine the network used when the videos were allegedly recorded.
The witness told the court that ZICTA could not establish the network being used at the time the videos were made.
Proceedings briefly paused when Kapwepwe objected, during re-examination by the prosecution, questioning why state prosecutors were allowed to continue asking questions after cross-examination had concluded.
Magistrate Phiri explained the different stages of trial proceedings and the purpose of re-examination.
The court also heard a testimony from Bill Kaping’a, a peasant farmer of Luanshya, who said he reported the videos to police after allegedly viewing them on TikTok in April 2025.
Kaping’a told the court that he had travelled to Lusaka for research at the National Archives when he came across the videos while browsing social media.
The witness said the video content allegedly contained offensive remarks directed at people from Southern Province…https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home
