The First Grade Magistrate Court sitting at Dedza has ruled that 33-year-old Kennedy Kasinja who was charged with burglary and theft in the month of February 2022, has no case to answer.
It was alleged that a house was broken into and the burglar went away with three car rims, 12 glasses, a 200-litre basin, and a toilet pipe.
The owner of the house testified in Court that she did not know who broke into her house but the thief left behind clothes. The clothes were later determined by a member of the community policing to belong to Kasinja.
Upon his arrest, Kennedy Kasinja’s grandmother, whom he stays with, sought legal aid services on his behalf. The State paraded two witnesses to prove its case and the suspect was represented by Senior Legal Aid Advocate Chikondi Kambuwa with assistance from Legal Aid Officer Edith Kaliza.
The complainant also testified in Court that her security guard switched on his torch and managed to identify the accused on the night that the offence took place.
In cross-examination, she stated that it was community policing members who identified the said clothes and that the person who switched on the torch and identified the accused was her tenant, not her guard.
An investigator also testified that the victim did not disclose the person she saw breaking into her house and that the police officer who visited the scene was transferred.
The Court adjourned the case to allow the state to bring the investigator who visited the scene but this was never done, and the state closed its case.
When the Court reconvened, a determination had to be made on whether the accused had a case to answer or not. First Grade Magistrate Symon Mwambo indicated that the two State witnesses that testified did not bring any evidence that the accused broke into the house.
Throughout the proceedings, the State could not provide evidence on whether or not the said clothes left behind by the thief belonged to Kasinja.
The complainant’s tenant who saw the accused during the night of the offence never testified in Court and the community policing member who identified the clothes also never testified in Court. The investigator, who visited the scene, also never testified in Court.
These, according to the Court, were the principal witnesses in this case. Consequently, the accused has been found with no case to answer and has been acquitted.
Kennedy Kasinja hails from Mabushi area in Magunditsa Village, T/A Kasumbu in Dedza district.
Source: Legal Aid Bureau
