Chilufya Tayali has retained six lawyers to defend him in his Libel case against Inspector General of Police Kakoma Kanganja.

Tayali is alleged to have defamed Kanganja through a Facebook posting that the Inspector General was “covering up his inefficiency to charge UPND president Hakainde Hichilema with treason because he was supposed to be an accomplice as he planned to kill the President or fix Hichilema for not clearing the way for the Presidential motorcade”.

When the matter came up on June 2, 2017 Tayali failed to cross examine Kanganja who denied being responsible for the motorcade saga.

Lusaka magistrate Felix Kaoma guided Tayali to be asking questions relevant to the case to prove his Facebook posting if at all he was the one who authored it.

Tayali has now engaged six lawyers namely Mulambo Haimbe, Keith Mweemba, Gilbert Phiri, Christopher Mundia, Zevyanji Sinkala and Nchimunya Mwange.
However, the case did not take off due Kanganja’s absence, who was reportedly out of the country on national duty.

The matter was scheduled for cross examination and Tayali’s six member defense team was eager to despite the court’s decision to adjourn the case.

The defense vehemently objected to the adjournment of the case as there was no documentation to prove that Kanganja had travelled abroad.

Tayali’s lawyers applied to have the charge dismissed due to the absence of the witness as there was no proof to show that he had travelled out of the country.

Gilbert Phiri and Keith Mweemba objected to the adjournment as there was no reasonable ground for adjourning the case.

Magistrate Kaoma, however, refused to dismiss the charge against Tayali and instead adjourned the case saying the defense’s application was misconceived.

But Haimbe wondered why the state was dragging its feet after state prosecutors suggested that the matter comes up on August 8 and not on earlier dates.
In his testimony, Kanganja distanced himself from the Presidential motorcade incident in Mongu which led to the arrest of UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema for treason, saying Provincial Police Commissioners work independently.

And Kanganja also warned social media abusers saying Tayali’s case is a perfect example of how the law will catch up with them.