Off the wire
• South Sudan to open embassy in Tanzania  • U.S. airstrike kills more than 150 al-Shabaab fighters in Somalia  • Facing growing critics, French gov't hold pledges "improvements" to labor code bill  • British FTSE 100 decreases 0.27 pct on Monday  • Spanish stock market falls 0.28 pct, closes at 8,786 points  • Ministers call on African countries to ratify free trade arrangement  • Nepalese President expresses happiness over growing participation of women in politics in Nepal  • Arab Israeli lawmakers clash with Netanyahu after supporting Hezbollah  • Kenya's medalist Kipsang eyes London win, gold in Rio  • Albania committed to helping out with EU refugees crisis: PM  
You are here: 　 Home

Zambia opposition leader denies inciting violence

Xinhua, March 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

A leading opposition figure in Zambia on Monday denied a charge of inciting violence when he appeared before a court in Lusaka, the country's capital.

Geoffrey Mwamba, vice president of the main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), pleaded not guilty to one count of proposing violence when he appeared in court following his utterances that he will go for the throat of Zambian President Edgar Lungu.

Mwamba was arrested last Friday and spent the weekend in police custody.

Magistrate Jennifer Bwalya has since granted him bail following arguments by his lawyers that the matter he is facing is bailable and trial is expected to start on April 11.

There was tight security at the court premises as security officials sealed off all entry points while all those entering the premises were screened.

Hakainde Hichilema, the party's leader was at the courts to give his deputy solidarity support while party supporters also thronged the court premises singing solidarity songs.

Mwamba, who was a defense minister in the current governing Patriotic Front (PF), is facing another charge of illegal drilling after 19 youths were found at one of his premises allegedly being trained as militias.

The arrest follows revelations by the Zambian leader that he had received intelligence information that the opposition party was training youths to allegedly cause violence if the party loses this year's general elections scheduled to be held on August 11. Endit