By 
A police forensic officer has testified that fingerprints found on the vehicle of slain Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Director General, Guntila Muleya, matched those of one of the accused, Samuel Dokowe.
The revelation came as the Lusaka High Court heard dramatic testimony from police investigators and forensic experts in the ongoing trial of four men charged with the murder of Muleya, whose body was discovered handcuffed with two gunshot wounds at the NAPSA Complex in Njolwe, Lusaka, in July 2024.
The accused are police officers M’Thusani Dokowe, 30, and Caleb Zulu, 30, systems engineer Samuel Dokowe, and accountant Francis Chipyoka, 42. They are jointly charged with murder and aggravated robbery.
Testifying before the court, Inspector Victor Shamapango, 40, a scenes of crime officer based at Emmasdale Police Camp under the Lusaka Division CID, recounted how he was dispatched on July 26, 2024, to Chawama Compound, where a brown Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, registration number BAL 5763, believed to belong to Muleya, had been found abandoned behind Choppies supermarket.
Read more: GPS evidence links accused, Zulu, to site of IBA boss, Muleya’s murder
“When I arrived at G and Sons garage, I found the vehicle cordoned off,” Shamapango said. “Its surface was smooth, and all doors were closed. I took photographs and lifted fingerprints from the door handles, windows, and steering wheel using nine hinge lifters.”
He said the lifted prints were sealed in an envelope and the vehicle handed over to investigators.
A few days later, he was informed that suspects had been arrested — among them Caleb Zulu, M’Thusani Dokowe, and Samuel Dokowe — and he proceeded to collect their fingerprints for comparison.
On August 2, he added, a fourth suspect, Francis Chipyoka, was apprehended and his prints were also taken.
“On August 8, I compiled all the fingerprints from the suspects and those lifted from the vehicle, together with the deceased’s NRC print, and submitted them to Police Headquarters for forensic examination,” the witness told the court.
Weeks later, a report from the Police Headquarters Fingerprint Department confirmed that one of the prints lifted from the vehicle matched the fingerprints of Samuel Dokowe.
The defence challenged the evidence, accusing the officer of fabricating information to implicate the accused.
“You are inconsistent and you’re lying,” the defence lawyer pressed. “Those fingerprints were lifted by other police officers.”
“No, I personally lifted the fingerprints,” Shamapango insisted.
The court also heard from Detective Chief Inspector Precious Tionge Ngo’nomo, a veteran fingerprint expert with 25 years of experience based at the Police Headquarters Fingerprint Department.
Ngo’nomo, who trained in India, explained that fingerprints are unique and remain unchanged from birth to death, even among identical twins.
“On August 8, 2024, our office received case file CR-27/07/24 involving aggravated robbery and murder,” she testified. “We received nine hinge lifters lifted from an abandoned vehicle, fingerprints from the four suspects, and elimination prints for a man named William Shawa, along with a copy of the deceased’s NRC.”
After analyzing all samples, Ngo’nomo confirmed that the fingerprints lifted from the vehicle were fit for comparison and that one matched those of Samuel Dokowe.
“The results were recorded and communicated to the investigating officers as per standard forensic protocol,” she said.
WARNING! All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.
Comments