State amends charge against Vincent Wandale
The State has amended a charge against People’s Land Organisation (PLO) Leader, Vincent Wandale, from Obtaining Money by False Pretence to Fraud which is contrary to Section 319 (A) of the Penal Code.
Wandale and his accomplices Chrispin Nkhoma, Precious Lesten and Robert Kambalame are being accused of soliciting money from members of the organisation, promising them land.
Lucy Mussa and 58 other local people from Thyolo accuse Wandale and his accomplices of stealing about K3.7 million between 2009 and 2017.
State Prosecutor, Damiano Kaputa, told the court that the change was in line with Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code which Principal Resident Magistrate Innocent Nebi agreed with.
Wandale, who is representing himself in the case, said the change in the charge sheet shows that the State is not sure of what it wants, saying this is not the first time for the State to make the amendments.
The PLO leader, however, said he is optimistic that justice will prevail.
“At first, the charge sheet said we were trustees [of PLO].We pointed out that not all of us are trustees and they changed. Now they have changed that charge to fraud and again the charge sheet says all the accused are trustees when I am the only trustee. All of us are members of PLO and the money was used for its intended purposes only that we are yet to succeed in our efforts to reclaim the land,” he said.
Wandale announced this week that he is suffering from tuberculosis which he claims that he contracted when he was remanded at Chichiri Prison.
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