I can’t die for Kasambara, only Jesus died for our sins – Manondo

Second accused person in the ongoing shooting case of former budget director Paul Mphwiyo, Pika Manondo has told the court that he did not tell cashgate prisoner Oswald Lutepo that he was prepared  to die for third accused person former justice minister Ralph Kasambara.

Manondo, who was responding to a question from Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mary Kachale, rejected claims by Lutepo that he denied to implicate Kasambara because he said he was ready to die to save him as a good friend.

He rebutted the statement as a fabrication by Lutepo, stating no person is worth dying for save Jesus Christ who died for us all to pay for human sins.

“I put it to you that you refuse to implicate the third accused [Kasambara because you were ready to die for as you reportedly told Mr Lutepo,” Kachale quizzed Manondo.

In response, Manondo said: “My lord that’s t a lie, I can’t die for Mr Kasambara, infact no one died for his friend save Jesus Christ who died for us all.”

Manondo also told the court that no one knows Lutepo much better than him, hinting that he is not credible and indeed a hostile witness.

He said it is sad that the State trust  Lutepo and is their  witness in some cases when he is not someone they can rely on as keep changing statements based on circumstances at that time.

Manondo, who most of time could be seen laughing during cross examination, also told the state never to trust Mphwiyo as he is also unreliable witness.

“I’m surprised that up to date you still trust Paul (Mphwiyo). Let me warn you here that if you still trust him, one day you shall wake up with crosses on your faces,” he told the court

When he was asked to repeat the statement and explain what he meant by that, Manondo repeated and told the court that he knows the gun-shot survivor very well and that as he was forced to make his statement in affidavits deposited to court and if he is asked to do the same in court, they will be shocked as he will refuse some of the facts he said.

Tempers also flared when Kachale asked Manondo if he was afraid to implicate Kasambara as he was afraid of him being the Attorney General and Minister of Justice at that time.

Before Manondo responded, Kasambara stood up and raised an objection, saying the DPP was wrong as o the time she was referring to he was not Attorney General of the country but only the minister and Anthony Kamanga was the Attorney General.

He also schooled Kachale to stop pointing fingers at him when speaking or referring a question relating to him  as that is not allowed in court and every learned lawyer was taught that in school, saying if she has forgotten then he was prepared  to borrow her the book for her refresher.

But Kachale though she refused to have directly meant pointed at him, apologised and acknowledged to the court that indeed she learned that and told the court that that the senior counsel (Kasambara) was also his university lecturer in law.

The case continues for defence with the state set to finish its cross examination on events surrounding 13th September, 2013 shooting  before Manondo witnesses start to testify in court.