Absence of a first witness in a case in which former president Bakili Muluzi and his former assistant Lyness Whiskey are accused of misappropriating K1.7 billion in public funds yesterday forced the court to adjourn the case to Thursday.
Muluzi, who was in court together with Whiskey and some United Democratic Front (UDF) faithful, first appeared in court in February 2009 accused of stealing US$11 million donor money and was initially charged with 80 counts of allegedly siphoning aid cash into his private account.
Immediately after the court had sat, one of the three State lawyers, Deputy Director of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Reyneck Matemba, notified the court that first witness (PW1), Victor Banda was not available due to ill-health.
Matemba said Banda, who retired from the Bureau in 2013 and stays in his home Village in Mzimba has an appointment with a doctor at Embangweni Mission Hospital on Wednesday and will be available in court from Thursday.
“He reported that he would be seeing a doctor on Wednesday and therefore, we agreed that immediately after that he should be coming to Blantyre. That means Mr Banda will be in this court on Thursday. That’s where we need the court’s direction.
Matemba then asked the court to continue with the hearing and allow the State to parade the second witness (PW2), a Mr Mlauzi, a suggestion which he admitted the defence had already expressed its reservations over before the court sitting.
“I pray that the court allow that we parade Mr Mlauzi, PW2, as we are waiting for Mr Banda. That is if it is permissible,” Matemba said.
But defence lead counsel Tamando Chokotho, who told the court that defence had not only expressed reservations but strongly object the State’s suggestion, asked for adjournment to the day Banda would be available saying the defence prepared to cross-examine the first witness not any other witness.
“It is true that the State requested that before we finish the cross-examination of PW1 [first witness] we should be dealing with the second witness. To say that we expressed reservations is an understatement because we actually strongly object to his proposal. Firstly, we do not know of any court procedure that permits that evidence should be laid down in such a disorderly fashion.
“Secondly, the nature of this matter is such that a lot of documents and figures are involved such that when we were getting communication on this particular proposal, we had actually spent a fortnight preparing for cross-examination of Victor Banda which we thought would take us two to three days. So, getting communication on such a notice caught us unprepared. We, therefore, pray that the matter be adjourned to Thursday on which the first witness will be available,” Chokotho said.
In his adjournment ruling, Judge Maclean Kamwambe said it is unpalatable that there is such a predicament but there is nothing that can be done where matters of health affect the court proceedings.
Kamwambe said if it was a simple matter, he would have granted the State’s request to proceed with the cross-examination of the second witness but the matter in question is complicated and in the spirit of the accused’s fair trial his hands were tied.
“As we proceed, we will see how to cover for the lost time. Meanwhile, I sadly adjourn the matter to Thursday, April 14 2016 from 9 am,” Kamwambe said.
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