Possession is not proof: the State must show its evidence against Archbishop Banda

I understand that receiving or possessing property and unlawfully disposing of government property are two different legal questions. The question I think the State now needs to answer is this: what specific evidence does it have against Archbishop Alick Banda beyond the fact that he ended up with a vehicle which the State says was improperly disposed of by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA)?

The Archbishop faces a separate charge relating to possession of the Toyota Hilux. As publicly reported, the State’s case is not that he took part in the ZRA officials’ disposal process. It is that he possessed property reasonably suspected of having been unlawfully obtained. That distinction matters.

The facts on the record so far are thin. The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) alleges that between April 2021 and December 2023, the Archbishop was in possession of a blue Toyota Hilux, registration number ALF 7734, reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained from ZRA. He has denied the charge under Section 319 of the Penal Code. His side says the vehicle was a gift from a well-wisher who bought it from ZRA through an internal process.

If ZRA officials unlawfully disposed of government vehicles, those responsible should be held accountable. But the unlawful conduct of whoever disposed of government property does not automatically make every person who later came into possession of that property criminally liable.

In this case, those responsible are not hypothetical. Former ZRA Commissioner General Kingsley Chanda and former Director of Administration Callistus Kaoma were convicted in October 2025 over the disposals and are awaiting the outcome of their appeals. The State has already found the people who disposed of these vehicles. What it has not yet shown is what the Archbishop did wrong by receiving one.

The prosecution itself says the Hilux is part of a wider investigation into about 22 ZRA vehicles that allegedly left the authority’s fleet without proper procedure. That raises an obvious question. Who bought the rest of those vehicles, who drives them today, and has every one of those people been arrested, charged and held in a cell overnight? If not, the public is entitled to know why one recipient became the face of the case.

The Anti-Corruption Commission this week called for stronger systems to safeguard, manage and dispose of recovered assets, motor vehicles among them, in a transparent and accountable manner. That is a reminder that the weakness often lies in how public institutions dispose of property, not with the citizen at the end of the chain.

So what evidence does the State have that Archbishop Banda knew, or had reason to know, that this particular vehicle had been unlawfully acquired when it came into his possession? And what evidence directly connects him to the alleged irregular disposal itself? These are legitimate questions, and they should be answered through evidence and due process, not political assumptions.

The manner of his detention has not helped. The Archbishop met every bail condition set by Resident Magistrate Mwandu Nakazwe: K80,000 in his own recognisance, three working sureties bound at K50,000 each, and the surrender of his travel documents. Even so, he spent Monday night at Chimbokaila while his sureties were interviewed, and walked out only on Tuesday afternoon. For a 62-year-old cleric who has denied the charge and been convicted of nothing, that night in a cell sends a message that goes well beyond a Toyota Hilux.

I am also concerned about the wider political context. For years, the Catholic Church in Zambia has spoken on governance, accountability and national affairs, sometimes supporting government positions and at other times challenging those in power. That role did not begin with the current government, and it should not become unacceptable simply because a particular Church leader is critical of those in power.

The Church has also stood with the State when the cause was just. The Roman Catholic Church is among the churches the DEC has partnered with in its outreach against drug abuse. A Church that is a partner when the State needs it should not be treated as a suspect when it speaks.

I have seen calls from some UPND supporters for Archbishop Banda to be arrested or removed. The ruling party’s deputy spokesperson, Elvis Nkandu, now says the case should be separated from the Catholic Church and left to the courts. On that, I agree with him. But separating the case from the Church must work both ways: it also means separating it from party supporters who have already decided the verdict.

The president of the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Ignatius Chama of Kasama, has called for fairness and due process free of prejudice or intimidation, and has accused the ruling party of seeking to silence the Church. Voices outside the Church, among them Organised Peoples Party president Dr Brian Mushimba, have spoken of what appears to be the continued targeting of the Archbishop. The quickest way for the State to answer those concerns is not with statements, but with evidence.

The Archbishop’s name has also surfaced in the Lumezi South election petition. There, a losing candidate alleged that handouts were distributed at his farm, then conceded under cross-examination that he had no photographs or video to prove it. Allegations must be proven, not merely pronounced.

Political reactions should not decide whether a criminal case has merit. The proper test should be the evidence, the law and due process.

The trial opens on November 3. If the State has evidence against the Archbishop, it should present that evidence before the courts and have it tested according to law. If there is no evidence beyond his possession of a vehicle whose disposal is alleged to have been irregular, then the public deserves a clear explanation of why possession alone is enough to sustain the charge.

The rule of law must apply equally, whether the person involved is a politician, a businessman, a Church leader or an ordinary citizen. We should also be careful not to turn legitimate law enforcement into a means of silencing institutions that have historically spoken truth to successive governments.

The Catholic Church should be free to speak, just as the government should be free to investigate genuine criminal conduct. The answer to disagreement should be evidence, transparency and due process, not intimidation or political retaliation.

By Illness Kalimukwa

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