Man Fined K2,500 For Assaulting A Priest

The Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has fined a 62-year-old man from Kalingalinga K2,500 for assaulting a priest while he was preaching at the pulpit. 

Renard Mwale, a machine operator, attacked the Anglican priest Boniface Baleni on November 22 last year and was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm. 

Delivering her judgement on the case yesterday, Magistrate Chiyaka found Mr Mwale guilty and ordered him to pay the K2,500 fine. Failing that, he would face a prison term of nine months. 

The judge said she had opted for a fine in light of Mr Mwale’s contrition and the apology which he had offered to the priest and the court. 

According to the police, the assault occurred after Rev. Boniface delivered a sermon calling for church elections, which angered some members of the congregation. Mr Mwale then approached the pulpit and ordered the priest to stop preaching. When he refused, Mwale pulled him from the pulpit and repeatedly punched him in the face.

The fight reportedly spilled out into the car park, where a number of worshipers joined in the attack.