Kapoko appeals sentence

FORMER Ministry of Health Human Resource Officer Henry Kapoko has appealed against his conviction and the 12 years sentencing after the Magistrate found him guilty of abuse of authority and theft of upto K1,173,402,000 in six counts.

Kapoko, 46, has submitted that he was not a signatory to the Ministry of Health accounts as evidence proved in the court, and wondered how the Magistrate Courts found him guilty for the theft of K586,701,000.

He said the lower court could not charge him based on the Public Procurement Acton Arti- cle 73(1) A of Act No 12 of 2008 as it was contrary to the implication of Article 18(8) of the Constitution of Zambia.

Magistrate Court convicted Mr Kapoko on six counts of theft by servant and abuse of authority of office when it found that on dates unknown but between February 29th 2008 and May 15th 2008 in Lusaka, whilst jointly acting together with other persons unknown, he was directly or indirectly involved in business transactions that involved K586, 701, 000, money acquired from illegal activities.

Magistrate Arida Chulu found Kapoko with a case and later sentenced him to 2 years imprisonment for each count to be saved concurrently from the date of sentencing.

But Kapoko argued that the Magistrate erred in law and in fact when she held that he stole K586,701,000 in count 3 when it was clear that he was not a signatory to the ministry accounts.

He charged that the Magistrate misapprehended the entire evidence produced in court when she dismissed facts supported by the defense.

He accused the court of making assumptions against him when he submitted that the court gave up the right to say and determine what was relevant to the case.