FATHER of the late UNZA student Vespers Shimunzhila has sued the State demanding damages for loss of expectation of life to be assessed by the court.
Davison Shimunzhila, who vowed to further seek justice for his daughter’s death after the Coroner established that the cause of death for Vespers was asphyxia due to smoke but no police officer present could be held liable, wants damages for pain and suffering, to be assessed by the court.
Shimunzhila has cited the Attorney General in the matter, seeking damages for loss of future, prospective earnings, punitive damages to be assessed by the court and any other relief that the court might deem necessary and costs.
In his statement of claim, Shimunzhila, who is the administrator of the estate of his late daughter, lamented that the actions of the police were reckless and negligent and were in complete disregard for human decency, human life and respect for the law.
Shimunzhila contended that Vespers was deprived of an opportunity to live a full life and that she suffered pain as a result of the suffocation which was caused by teargas and smoke which resulted from the reckless and negligent actions of the Zambia police service.
He said on October 4, 2018, there was commotion at the University of Zambia Great East Road campus where students were protesting against the delayed payment of meal allowances.
Shimunzhila stated that unidentified police officers entered the university and fired teargas canisters into the student hostels which caused a matress to catch fire and the smoke, combined with the noxious gases from the canisters, made it difficult for one to breathe.
He recalled that Vespers who was in her room whilst other students protested was declared dead on October 5, 2018 and the caused of death was owing to asphyxia caused by carbon monoxide inhalation due to fire.
Shimunzhila added that the verdict in an inquest which was put up to ascertain the cause of his daughter’s death found that teargas fired into the rooms caused or resulted into fire and smoke which led to asphyxia suffered by Vespers.
In an open verdict delivered in October 2019, coroner Silvia Munyinya said the fire which gutted the hostel housing Shimunzhila’s room was ignited by teargas, which was fired into the rooms by the police officers who went to UNZA to maintain calm when the students rioted as they were the only ones who were armed.
Coroner Munyinya said though the officers were behind the incident, it was so difficult to establish the culprit.
She indicated that the specific time at which Vespers took her last breath was not clear because she was alive on October 4, 2018 during the riot when she was searching for keys to the door in an attempt to secure her life by leaving the room.
“I find that the deceased died between 22:00 hours on October 4, 2018 and 04:00 hours on October 5, 2019. She might have died in her room, on the way to the compass clinic or at Levy Mwanawasa hospital,” the coroner said.
“I find that police officers who responded to the riot at UNZA discharged teargas towards the hostel which caused the fire as they were the only ones who were armed. Though it was so, the officers are not known. On whether or not there is someone to charge for her death, it is difficult to point out the particular officer but only police officers were armed.”
The coroner said police officers fired teargas canisters towards the windows with the knowledge that property would be damaged, which left much to be desired.
She noted that there was need to check the conduct of the police during the riot as it was retrogressive.
Coroner Munyinya urged the police to avoid dereliction of duty and conduct investigations seriously and endeavor to maintain law and order in a professional manner.
Shimunzhila is represented by LCK Chambers.