By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –
LUSAKA lawyer Paul Banda’s son Paul Pandala Banda junior, yesterday told the Lusaka High Court that he lost his temper and beat up his father after he discovered his mother Vivian Ilukena Banda lying in a pool of blood following a gun shotin her bedroom.
Meanwhile, Banda’s daughter Tilive,  yesterday testified before Lusaka High Court judge Chalwe Mchenga that his father’s health was failing him and he had a poor  memory which worried her mother before she died.
Banda, a retired Zambia Air Force (ZAF) colonel, is charged with one count of murdering his wife which occurred on October 27, 2015, the day she was celebrating her birthday.
Paul junior and Tilive yesterday testified how they heard a gunshot from their parents’ bedroom shortly after they had gone to sleep.
Paul junior said on the material day,after dinner, the family went to sleep but shortly afterwards; he was awakened by a gunshot which came from his parents’ bedroom.
He said he also heard his mother scream prompting him to break the door of the bedroom to check what had transpired.
“As I entered the bedroom I saw my mum lying and was bleeding from the right side of her belly. I tried to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding but I believe the extent of the injury was big” Paul junior said.
“I found my dad in the bedroom standing near the wall looking lost and abit dismayed I did not ask him what had happened.  I just lost my mind and beat him up” said.
Paul junior further told the court that his siblings rushed his mother to Levy Mwanawasa Hospital while he remained with his father who by then had sustained injuries due to the beatings he inflicted on him.
He said that his father owned two guns and was in a habit of shooting in the air to scare thieves after her sister’s vehicle was stolen.
Tilive who works for a financial institution said she heard a gunshot from her parents’ bedroom after which, she rushed to find out what had happened.
She said when she entered, she found other people already in the bedroom trying to save her mother’s life.
Tilive said before that, her parents had asked her what she thought about her father’s law firm which was not doing well financially.
She said her mother was of the view that her father should reduce on the number of cases he was handling because he had high blood pressure, was diabetic and had memory problems. Trial continues.