By knchile 
Patriotic Front cadre and businessman Francis Muchemwa, known as Commander II, will continue serving his three-year prison sentence after his bail application was rejected.
Lusaka Chief Resident Magistrate Davies Chibwili dismissed Muchemwa’s request for bail pending the hearing of his appeal, citing a lack of merit in the application.
On July 26th, Magistrate Chibwili sentenced Muchemwa to three years of imprisonment with hard labor for possessing property valued at K12 million, which was deemed to be proceeds of crime. Additionally, his companies, Friltech Networks Limited and Altitude Properties Limited, were fined a combined total of K800,000.
Muchemwa was also ordered to pay K141,400 to Zesco as restitution for subsistence allowances he had wrongfully received from the company. Failure to make this payment would result in an additional nine-month jail term.
Following his sentencing, Muchemwa appealed the three-year sentence and sought bail while awaiting the High Court’s decision on his appeal. His defense team, led by Nathan Muyembe, argued before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court (EFCC) that Muchemwa should be granted bail due to the strong likelihood of his appeal succeeding.
Muyembe expressed concern that if Muchemwa was not released on bail, he might end up serving a significant portion of his sentence before his appeal was even heard.
However, ACC prosecutor Chawezi Nalwenga objected to the bail request, noting that bail pending appeal is not automatically granted but is at the discretion of the court. Nalwenga argued that Muchemwa had not demonstrated a high likelihood of success in his appeal.
Supporting the objection, ACC Senior Legal and Prosecutions Officer Daniel Ngwira emphasized that Muchemwa failed to present any exceptional circumstances that would justify the court overriding its decision.
Ultimately, the court ruled against granting bail, stating that Muchemwa’s claim that he would have served a substantial part of his sentence if bail was granted did not hold, especially considering the new rules that allow the EFCC to resolve appeals within five months.
As it stands, Muchemwa will remain in custody, continuing to serve his sentence while awaiting the outcome of his appeal.