BEFORE a packed courtroom yesterday, 73-year old Jane Lusengo faced everyone and denied killing her husband, Lt General Ronnie Shikapwasha.
Looking fragile and sometimes absent-minded, the mother and grandmother appeared before lady Justice Conceptor Chinyanwa Zulu for plea.
Lusengo a housewife of plot no.477 Ibex Hill became a widow on January 15, 2024 when she allegedly pulled the trigger on retired Zambia Airforce Commander lt general Shikapwasha and damaged his internal vital organs.
A double barrel shotgun is the weapon that is said to have been used by Lusengo to ‘end’ the life of her beloved husband in a marital discord.
As a result of her alleged actions in rage, the grandma stands charged with murder contrary to Section 200 of the Penal Code Chapter 87 of the Zambian Laws.
When taking plea Lusengo who donned her widow’s weeds with a pink scarf, seemingly had challenges in grasping the charge which was read out to her by a court marshal, a ms Ngandwe.
Despite the little hurdles in comprehending what was being communicated, Lusengo said she understood the charge and denied killing her husband.
After denying killing her husband to whom she had been married for over 40 years, mortuary silence gripped the court room before the scores of relatives who had turned up for the hearing quietly trooped out one by one.
Notable among the relatives who attended the court session was the celebrity couple of her son Tivo and his songstress wife Salma Dodia, including freshly baptized former first lady Maureen Mwanawasa.
Judge Zulu set May 9, for commencement of trial.
By Mwaka Ndawa
Kalemba May 7, 2024.
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