State insists magistrate takes plea before immunity talk

MAGISTRATE Maggie Kunda Tantameni must first take plea before the issue of her immunity can arise, the State has submitted in court. In this case, Tantameni is charged with DEC senior public prosecutor Francis Mpanza for one count of alleged abuse of authority of office while in the other count she is charged with Mpanza, Felix Mkandawire, a court interpreter, and Diddie Kangwa, a senior clerk of court, for alleged theft of ephedrine worth K1, 870,000. Responding to defence lawyer Prosper Muyatwa’s application to drop charges against Tantameni on grounds that she is immune to prosecution, public prosecutor Cynthia Simwatachela Mwila yesterday said the Class Two Magistrate is now an accused person and her immunity should not come in. “For us to prove if she acted in good faith, evidence must be brought. May this court allow plea so that the accused persons are heard for a just decision to be reached and for justice to prevail,” Ms. Mwila said before Chisamba-based Resident Magistrate Susan Mangalashi. On Mr. Muyatwa’s other submission that Tantameni will not receive a fair trial as her case was allocated to Ms. Mangalashi by Chief Resident Magistrate Kenneth Mulife, who has an interest as complainant on behalf of the Judiciary, Ms. Mwila said the latter merely performed his duty of allocating cases and he did not hear the same matter She said a look at the file and the docket showed that the State is the complainant and that at no point did Mr. Mulife report the matter. Another public prosecutor Mwanino Godfrey Mwanino said Section 55 of the Subordinates Court Act and Section 15 of the Penal Code, quoted by Mr. Muyatwa in his application, did not apply in Tantameni’s case. Mr. Mwanino said it was too early for the defence to invoke Section 15 of the Penal Code, which can only be invoked at a stage where plea has been taken and trial has commenced. The matter has since been adjourned to November 13, 2018 for ruling.