Police officer jailed

A POLICE officer who stole an AK-47 rifle worth K3, 000 belonging to the government has been sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour in the Lusaka Magistrate Court.Senior Resident Magistrate Irene Wishimanga in her judgement said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt through their witnesses that indeed an AK-47 rifle was stolen by the Given Kayula, aged 27.She ruled that there was enough evidence to prove that the rifle belonging to the government was moved without permission.Kayula was in court for allegedly stealing an AK47 rifle worth K3, 000 and denied the charge.However, the court found him with a case to answer and put him on his defence.In his defence, Kayula denied the allegations that he never stole the gun but kept it for safe custody after permission was granted by the government.An investigations officer had told the court that Kayula, a police officer, was found with an AK-47 rifle intending to sell it contrary to the laws of Zambia.Mr. Chinyemba Muzele, a detective inspector based at Monze Police Station testified that on August 1, 2023 he was assigned to investigate an inquiry file over a case of possession of property suspected to have been stolen.Mr. Muzele said during his investigations, he established that there was a suspect who had been apprehended by police in Gwembe by the name Kayula.Mr. Muzele testified that the firearm was handed over to him after he interviewed the officer.”I interviewed the suspect who said he was a police officer under a protective unit based in Lusaka. He told me he legally withdrew the firearm at Government Printers where he was working. I wondered how a legally withdrawn firearm was kept in one of the villages in Gwembe. It raised my suspicion,” he said.He said the suspect led him to Lusaka at Government Printers and they never found any record that he legally withdrew the firearm. Kayula is also appearing in another court charged with obtaining money by false pretences.In this case, he is accused of using his colleague’s NRC and payslip to obtain a K65, 746 loan from Exchanger Financial Lending Institution.The court heard that the accused allegedly forged Ntebeka Luyando’s NRC, placed his face on it and started receiving the loan.