SESHEKE UPND member of parliament Romeo Kang’ombe says the suspended sentence he has been handed by the court has rejuvenated him and that he will now re-contest his seat in the August elections.
On Monday Chinsali Resident Magistrate Julius Malata handed Kang’ombe a two-year suspended sentence and a K10,000 fine for assault and abduction of two police officers.
Magistrate Malata told Kangombe that he risks a stiffer conviction should he commit a similar offence in the next two years.
In an interview, Kangombe said he would re-contest his seat in the August election, contending that he was eligible since he was given a suspended sentence.
“I am okay, my political career is still okay and I am contesting. Why shouldn’t I contest? I have decided to contest. Today, I have decided. I am a political prisoner but otherwise we all know that I am innocent. So that doesn’t determine, that doesn’t affect my political mood, in any case, it only rejuvenates me to fight for a better Zambia. And who is eligible to contest? It’s a Zambian citizen who is not serving a sentence, understand this, ‘who is not serving a sentence!’ It’s a suspended sentence and I am eligible. I am still here,” he said.
“I feel okay, everyone who prayed for me, my wife, my sisters, my mothers, all the family members including the larger family of the United Party for National Development, even the Zambian people, the Zambian citizens that saw it fit to kneel with their feeble knees and pray to the almighty God to finally be the judge and vindicate me. I have been given a suspended sentence, a fine. A suspended sentence entails that I am not serving a custodial sentence. One who serves a custodial sentence is serving in prison and such a one is not eligible to contest. So, God spoke to the magistrate and gave me a suspended sentence. So I am outside, I am here, I am a free man except, I have been told that I should not commit the same crime even when I didn’t commit one.”
The lawmaker further said that no one would succeed in convincing him to ditch the UPND party, adding that he would never compromise his code of principles due to pressure.
“It’s only that I am standing on my principles, there has been pressure on me, my family, my wife and everyone close to me to convince me not to contest, to convince me to ditch UPND but I can’t. I can never compromise the code of principles because of external or internal pressure. I am still here, in any case, we are living in a democratic dispensation where everyone is free to belong to any political party and support any political party, and I choose UPND. Not out of money but out of principle and for the betterment of this country, that’s why I am here,” said Kang’ombe.
