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The Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has convicted former Information and Publicity Minister Chishimba Kambwili of unlawful assembly and sentenced him to one year in prison, suspended.
Resident Magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli, delivering judgment, found that the prosecution had proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt in connection with a gathering at Kambwili’s Woodlands residence on January 26, 2023.
The case involved between 15 and 20 youths who entered the premises carrying placards and singing a song containing tribal sentiments.
The gathering was recorded by Kambwili’s media team and later posted on his Facebook page.
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Although Kambwili subsequently cautioned the youths against singing the song and engaging in hate speech, the court found that his role in facilitating the gathering made him criminally liable, even though he did not participate in the singing.
The court also found that the gathering, which had initially been lawful following prior notification to police, became unlawful because of the participants’ conduct.
It held that the conduct was likely to provoke a breach of the peace and that the fact that the gathering took place at a private residence did not exempt it from the law governing unlawful assembly.
Kambwili was convicted under Section 75 of the Penal Code and handed a one-year suspended prison sentence.
The prosecution was conducted by Senior Public Prosecutor Lewis Loti of the National Prosecution Authority.
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