A 22-year-old man was on September 1, this year accidentally shot by Constable Kakoma of Zambia Police Post at Lusaka City Market as the officer was chasing a suspect.

Nalikena Nosiku of Chibolya compound said the action of Kakoma was unprofessional.

Nosiku told Kanyama Legal Resources Foundation (LRF) Centre paralegal officer Mary Chisanga that on September 1, this year in the evening, he was shot by a police officer when he was in his shop at Soweto market.

He said he was with his friend in the shop when he heard a gunshot. The bullet entered his arm, went through the chest and came out in the back. He was taken to University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for treatment

According to his friend Golias Daka, Kakoma was chasing Andrew Phiri, one of the men who sells spare parts at the same market. Phiri ran and sat outside Nosiku’s shop. Kakoma who was armed then caught him and started beating him. As he was trying to lift Phiri, the gun went off and shot Nosiku who was in the shop.

Daka took Nosiku to the police station where he was given two police officers to accompany him to the hospital.

Phiri told the LRF the MMD branch chairman accused him of drinking beer at the market and took him to the branch office. The branch chairman released him after he found him with no case to answer. When Phiri was going back to his shop, he saw a police officer chasing him.

He was advised to run by some friend who said the branch chairman sent someone to call th9.5Inspector Lwanja of Zambia Police Post told the LRF he has no idea of Kakoma’s whereabouts.

He said the officer-in-charge at Lusaka Central Police Station wrote a letter to him instructing him to find Kakoma so he can retrieve the gun from him. He said the case is not yet in court as the police are still investigating.

THE Legal Resources Chambers (LRC) has appealed against the coroner’s ruling in the Inquest to establish what led to Chanda Chayafya’s death.

LRC lawyer Mambwe Chipazhya told LRF News it was a misdirection for the coroner to have established whether someone was involved in a crime.

He said Rose Samakai, who was the coroner, in this case was not supposed to establish whether Chanda Chayafya was involved in the former finance minister, Ronald Penza’s killing.

He defined an inquest as an inquiry to determine the circumstances leading to the death of someone.

The grounds of appeal are that the coroner failed to consider the evidence of Dr M P Garg the Pathologist who conducted the post mortem and prepared a report.

That the coroner did not investigate the findings of Dr Garg to ascertain the nature and extent of the multiple injuries alleged to have caused the death of Chayafya.

Chayafya’s brother, Mumba in his appeal also states the coroner’s notes are not a true record of the inquest. He said they omit important items of evidence given at the inquest and add items of evidence which were not given at the inquest at all.

Mumba believes the coroner must have made up her mind on the cause of death before the hearing commenced and therefore, paid no attention to the evidence. He was not satisfied with the judgement and instructed LRC to make the appeal. An application to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for a Fiat to authorise LRC to Lodge an application in the High Court of Zambia for an order to quash the inquisition was made.

The DPP granted the Fiat on October 27, 2000 and LRC is waiting for the matter to take off in the High Court.

Chipazhya said this is in accordance with section 33 (1) of the inquest Act cap 36 of the Laws of Zambia on the grounds of insufficiency of evidence.

Facts leading to Chayafya’s death are that on November 6, 1998, he was picked up from his work place at Stanbic Bank by a group of plain-clothes police officers who violently bundled him in a vehicle and took him away.

After an hour, he was reported dead at Chazanga forest. The then police spokesman told the nation that Chayafya was in a group of suspects who attempted to stage a robbery at a filling station and tried to flee after being accosted by police.

An inquest got underway after his death. By April 18, 2000, ten witnesses had testified and the inquest was closed. The verdict was delivered on August 18, 2000 by the coroner Samakayi.

The coroners findings were that Chayafya died in the crossfire between bandits and the police that happened at Chazanga forest and that him and the others who died at Mobil filling Station were not involved in Penza’s death as alleged.