TWO Health Practitioners have told the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court that COVID-19 results for NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili were negative on September 4, this year, after re-testing him.

Copperbelt Provincial Health director Robert Zulu told the Court that Kambwili’s latest results came out negative on September 4, this year, but were only communicated to him by a clinician on Monday.

This is a matter in which Kambwili is charged with forgery, uttering a false document and giving false information to a public officer in relation to the registration of Mwamona Engineering and Technical Services.

On September 1, this year, Principal Resident Magistrate David Simusamba cancelled the bench warrant he issued against Kambwili on August 25, for missing court on condition that the accused person presents him with his COVID-19 test results on September 4, that week, after he was re-tested.

But on September 4, one of Kambwili’s defence lawyers, Musa Mwenye, State Counsel, informed Magistrate Simusamba that Kambwili was subjected to a COVID-19 retest on Wednesday that week following the Court’s order, but that the results were not yet ready.

He told the Court that the doctor who attended to him at Roan Antelope General Hospital said the results would only be ready within two weeks.

But Magistrate Simusamba wondered why results would take so long to be released when others were issued in two days.

He then ordered that the acting medical superintendent at Roan Antelope General Hospital, together with the officer-in-charge of handling COVID-19-related matters on the Copperbelt, appear before him yesterday to explain Kambwili’s COVID-19 test result.

Magistrate Simusamba wanted the officers to appear and explain to him how the issue of testing for COVID-19 was done, especially relating to Kambwili.

And when the matter came up before him yesterday, deputy chief State Advocate Margaret Chitundu informed the Court that the two medical personnel who were summoned were before court.

Once in the witness stand, Roan Antelope General Hospital acting medical superintendent Chimese Mwansa confirmed to the Court that Kambwili was attended to at the medical facility twice.

She said the first time Kambwili went to the hospital was on August 9, this year, where he complained of difficulties in breathing, high blood pressure, among others.

Mwansa said because of the difficulties in breathing, Kambwili was swabbed and the results came out positive for COVID-19 on August 16, this year.

She, however, said a re-test done on Kambwili on September 1, came out negative on September 4, adding that she communicated the results to Kambwili on Monday.

“I got the results over the weekend and I communicated (to Kambwili) yesterday (Monday) towards lunch-hour,” Mwansa said.

Asked if she had evidence to show that a swab was conducted on Kambwili on August 9, whose results came out positive, Mwansa said the results were on an Excel Sheet, which was on soft copy.

Meanwhile, Zulu informed the Court that a COVID-19 test was conducted on Kambwili and the latest results indicated that the former Roan PF lawmaker was negative.

He added that the latest results came out on September 4, 2020, and they were negative.

When the defence asked whether Kambwili was informed about the results, Zulu said yes.

Meanwhile, Magistrate Simusamba has also subpoenaed Tropical Diseases Research Centre director Gershom Chongwe to appear before him and present Kambwili’s initial positive laboratory results of COVID-19 for August 16.

He also adjourned the matter to September 15, this year.