LUSAKA Principal Resident Magistrate Mwaka Mikalile has set April 30, this year, for a ruling on case or no case to answer in a matter in which Chishimba Kambwili is jointly charged with his son Mwamba, Mwamona Engineering and Technical Services and two others.

This was after the State closed its case.

In this matter, Kambwili, his son Mwamba, Mwamona Engineering and Technical Services, Lukwesa Musonda Brano and Mulenga Makasa Kapilima are charged with; one count of making a document without authority, one count of uttering a false document, two counts of obtaining pecuniary advantage by false pretences and 35 counts of being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of crime.

It is alleged in one of the counts that Mwamoma Engineering and Kambwili on dates unknown but between August 1, 2014 and September 30, 2016, in Lusaka, whilst acting together by means of false pretence, dishonestly obtained US$105,220.07 from China Henan International Corporation Group Limited, purporting that Mwamona, a company which was subcontracted, was executing the works on Luwingu-Mansa road when in fact not.

Kambwili and Mwamona are also alleged to have presented a false ZRA tax clearance certificate to ZESCO purporting that it was genuinely issued, resulting in the award of a contract of K8 million for the construction of Houses and toilets under the Lunzua Hydro Power project, thereby obtaining pecuniary advantage of a contract sum of K1,652,482.81.

When the matter came up for continued cross examination of the arresting officer, Thursday, Furguson Komba insisted that the tax clearance certificate that was produced by Mwamona Engineering was fake.

When it was put to him by the defence counsel that other certificates issued during the same period had similar typographical errors, and signed by the same person, Komba insisted that the Mwamona certificate was fake but that he didn’t know whether the other certificate was fake or not.

Asked whether he was aware that Mwamona’s reconciled debt position was done in May 2017, Komba responded in the negative but noted that he was aware that the company was issued tax clearance certificates for 2015 and 2016 because of the same.

Komba further said he wasn’t aware whether any of the people who had signed the 2015 and 2016 tax clearance certificates were arrested.

When the defense showed him a document showing that Mwamona was issued with a certificate bearing the same date as the purported fake document, he conceded that the dates were reconciling but still insisted that the document was fake.

After cross examination, the State informed the court that it had closed its case.

Magistrate Mikalile then directed the defence to file their written submissions by April 22, and 29 as the date the State should file theirs.

She set April 30, 2021 for the ruling on case or no case to answer.

Komba previously testified that Mwamona Engineering and Technical Services was awarded a contract for the construction of houses and toilets under the Lunzua Hydro Power project, after it presented an alleged fake Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) tax clearance certificate to Zesco.

The officer testified that upon analysis and physical inspection of the said tax clearance certificate which Mwamona submitted to Zesco when it bid for a tender, it was found to have unusual anomalies or errors on it.