Delayed verdict breaks Vespers’ mother

MOTHER to University of Zambia (UNZA) student Vespers Shimunzhila who died during a riot last year could not hold back tears after hearing that verdict in the cause of her daughter’s death could not be delivered.

Ms Flare Shimunzhila sat outside court room 8 at the Lusaka magistrate court complex with tears flowing after the matter was adjourned because the coroner is on transfer and was not present. She wept as family members tried to console her. Others with her included Mr Shimunzhila, family members and representatives from the Non-Governmental Organisation coordinating council. Ms Shimunzhila expressed disappointment that the verdict was not delivered on the date set by the coroner adding that she travelled the whole night from Namwala to hear the verdict. She vowed not to go back to Namwala, until something was done. “The case has taken too long, this is almost a year.

My child is already dead, my heart needs to be at peace,” Ms Shimunzhila moarned. The matter has been adjourned to October 28, 2019. Previously, Michael Simukumbwa, 48, a Clinical Officer general at UNZA clinic narrated that on October 5, 2018 around 02:00 hours Ms Shimunzhila was brought to the clinic in an acute state. Mr Simukumbwa said Shimunzhila was covered in a black powder substance and since she was not talking, he went ahead and examined if she was alive or not. “I examined her eyes, the pupils were fully dilated and not responding to light. I got a stethoscope to check for heart beat but there was none. “I opened her mouth and her tongue was extremely dark, I pressed on her chest to stimulate the heart, as I pressed the powder substance came out of her mouth. I knew that the case was not manageable at our Level and I did not see any signs of life in her so I recommended that she be taken to Levy Mwanawasa Hospital,” he said.