February 2007
Court Orders Chilanga Cement To Compensate Lusaka Resident K20M
By Perpetual Sichikwenkwe
THE Lusaka High Court has awarded a Lusaka resident K 20 million as compensation for false imprisonment.
High Court Judge Timothy Kabalata awarded the damages to Joseph Sumbukeni on February 14, 2007 Sumbukeni, who sued a police officer only identified as Kacha of Lusaka Central Police Station as first defendant and the Attorney General as second defendant was represented by Legal Resources Chambers lawyer Sandra Wamulume.
Facts are that on December 19, 1994 Sumbukeni reported for work at Chilanga Cement Plc but he was later in the day taken to Lusaka Central Police Station by his employers on allegations of stealing money from the company.
Sumbukeni was detained by Kacha for 12 days. He was then transferred to various police stations within Lusaka where he spent a total of 21 days. During his detention, Sumbukeni did not appear before any court.
During his evidence in chief, Sumbukeni's lawyer Wamulume testified that her client was not charged with any offence during his detention at the various police stations. Wamulume further said that even though Sumbukeni was alleged to have committed a bailable offence, Kacha denied him police bond until January 25, 1995 when he was given the bond on condition that he should be reporting to Lusaka Central Police Station on specific days.
In his defence, Kacha who was represented by Assistant Senior State Advocate in the Attorney General's Chambers K.G Simumba, admitted detaining Sumbukeni from December 1994 to January 25 1995 without causing him to appear in court but denied that the said detention was unlawful.
But in passing judgment, Judge Kabalata noted that: "It is no defense to false imprisonment that one was arrested for a lawful cause if the accused is not made to appear before a court. Section 33 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that when any person has been taken into custody without a warrant for an offence other than an offence punishable with death, the Officer in Charge of the Police Station to which such person shall be brought may , in any case and shall if it does not appear practicable to bring such a person before an appropriate court within 24 hours after he was so taken into custody, enquire into the case, and, unless the offence appears to the officer to be of serious nature, release the person, on his executing a bond with or without sureties, for a reasonable amount of money".
Judge Kabalata further noted that in the case of Sumbekeni, he was detained for four weeks without being taken before a court of competent jurisdiction and he was further denied bond for unknown reasons, adding that they was now provision in law that allowed the police to detain a person on purposes of investigations.
"The defendant in this case did not attempt to justify the Plaintiff's imprisonment and therefore I find in favour of the plaintiff and award him damages in the sum of twenty million kwacha for his false imprisonment by the 1 'st defendant. This sum will attract interest at the short term deposit rate from the date of the writ until judgment and thereafter at the current lending rate as determined by the Bank of Zambia.