THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has insisted that Wanziya Chirwa, the jailed wife of former home affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo should stay in jail because her grounds of appeal are weak and cannot succeed.
Chirwa has renewed her bail application pending appeal before the Economic and Financial Crimes Court (High Court division). 
In an Affidavit in support of summons for admission to bail pending appeal Chirwa stated that upon filing the notice of intention to appeal, she applied for bail pending appeal before the trial magistrate on September 30, 2024 and on October 29 the trial magistrate dismissed her application.
She said her appeal has good prospects of success, as demonstrated by the grounds of appeal.
“The offence for which I was convicted is bailable and that if I am not granted bail, it is likely that I will have served a substantial portion of the sentence by the time my appeal is heard,”said Chirwa.
“If granted bail I will raise traceable sureties and attend to court whenever required.”
In an affidavit in opposition to admission to bail pending appeal, ACC prosecutor Namwezi Chisanga Chizalila said Chirwa will not serve a substantial portion of the sentence, as appeals before the EFCC are heard expeditiously.
“Raising traceable sureties does not amount to an exceptional circumstance for the purposes of admitting the applicant to bail pending appeal,” Chazalila said.
She indicated that the application has not disclosed any exceptional circumstances to warrant the court to exercise its discretion to grant bail pending appeal.
“It has also been argued by the applicant that she will provide sureties and comply with the bail conditions, we submit that not only is this not an exceptional circumstance but, it is one of the factors that the court considers when determining a bail pending trial application,”said Chazalila.
“It is our humble submission that this court will be on firm ground in denying the applicant bail pending appeal.”
Kalemba
