A maid in Zambia has been taken to court after being accused of lacing her employer’s food with poison
In this matter, Naomi Muyemba is facing a charge of maliciously administering poison with intent to harm.
Particulars of the offense are that on July 6 2019, Muyemba with intent to harm maliciously administered unknown poison to Petronella Nkumbakwa by sprinkling it on the slices of bread and fried eggs meant for her breakfast.
When the matter came up before Lusaka Magistrate Judy Chiyaika the accused could not take plea as she was not before court.
It is alleged that on July 3, 2019 Nkumbakwa a human resource manager at TATA Zambia limited discovered black substance which was in powder form on her food.
On the material day Nkumbakwa was preparing for work between 06:00 hours and 08:00 hours and asked Naomi to prepare breakfast for her.
Nkumbakwa asked her husband if he would have breakfast but he refused saying he was fasting – they had engaged in a marital dispute earlier.
Due to lack of time, Nkumbakwa asked Naomi to pack her breakfast as she was running late.
Whilst driving to work Nkumbakwa decided to eat the food prepared by Naomi but before she could have a bite noticed black powder sprinkled on the food.
After noticing the powder on the food Nkumbakwa avoided to eat it and decided to report the matter to the police station.
The food samples were taken to the food laboratory at UTH and results allegedly revealed that the food was laced.
