Yuyi’s detention pure injustice, police have no evidence against him – Lawyer

FORMER Copperbelt Province police commissioner Mwala Yuyi’s lawyer has described his client’s two-week detention as “a pure case of injustice”, lamenting that police have failed to take him to court within the legally stipulated 48 hours. Yuyi’s lawyer, Siisi Mulele, claims that the State has no evidence against his client. A fortnight ago, the Zambia […]

FORMER Copperbelt Province police commissioner Mwala Yuyi’s lawyer has described his client’s two-week detention as “a pure case of injustice”, lamenting that police have failed to take him to court within the legally stipulated 48 hours.

Yuyi’s lawyer, Siisi Mulele, claims that the State has no evidence against his client.

A fortnight ago, the Zambia Police Service arrested Yuyi, Magistrate Edward Banda, police officers Patrick Muti and Boniface Nchimunya, court clerk Obrian Chipunza, all from Mufulira, and businessman Daniel Makina for alleged theft of copper cathodes recovered in Mufulira District.

Police public relations officer Godfrey Chilabi said the charges followed investigations into the alleged theft of 436 copper cathodes valued at approximately US$448,596.

In an interview, Mulele of HBM Advocates in Lusaka maintained that Yuyi was innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction and described his continued detention as an injustice.

“We are the law firm representing Mr Yuyi Mwala among the seven people that were apprehended on 29th July 2026 for copper theft. We can confirm that our client has been in custody since 29th July 2026, facing a charge of theft by public servant, contrary to Section 278 as read with Section 272 of the Penal Code. Our concern is that the police have failed to avail our client before court within the legally stipulated period of 48 hours. Further, the police have refused to grant him police bond along with everyone charged jointly with him. Otherwise, we are ready to seek justice for our client,” he said.

“We maintain that our client is innocent till proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. Clearly, this is a pure case of injustice. This is a situation where even the police officers that chose to spearhead this injustice against Mr Yuyi know that they have no evidence against him. There is literally nothing that the State has as evidence against Mr Yuyi in this case. As his lawyers, we shall not tire out until we get justice for Mr Yuyi”.

He added that Yuyi and the other suspects had remained in detention at Mufulira Police Station since their arrest.

Mulele further claimed that police had detained Yuyi while still conducting investigations.

“Mr Yuyi Mwala and others have been in detention at Mufulira Police Station ever since. There is no charge of Theft by Public Servant that the police can talk about here, and the police themselves know that. The police only move to arrest and detain people after investigations and collecting evidence. It is unlawful to detain anybody before conducting any investigation. A detention to investigate [therefore] becomes illegal. This is the fate facing Mr Yuyi now. Simply put, the police are stuck because they had detained Mr Yuyi without investigating. If they did, they would have produced him in court within 48 hours. Otherwise, they have nothing against him. It is now 14 days that he has been in police custody,” said Mulele.