DPP Agrees With Judge's Wants; Conclusion of Mphwiyo Attempted Murder Case in May
The
Lilongwe High Court Judge has told both prosecution and defense lawyers for the
case of attempt murder of former budget director Mr. Paul Mphwiyo to be
concluded by the moth of May this year.
Justice
Michael Mtambo said this on Wednesday evening before adjourning the case after
finishing of cross examination by Pika Manondo's lawyer Gift Mwakhwawa since
morning of the day.
"The
judgement of this case should be in May" he said before adjourning the
matter to 17, 18 and 19th of February where among others the court is to
continue with cross examination by other lawyers Oswald Mtupila and Wapona
Kita.
The
judge observed that there should be no unnecessary adjournments and delays
during cross examination and urged both parties to provide to the court all relevant
documents so that there are no obstacles to delay the case.
Commenting
on the judges proposal Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mary Kachale in an
interview welcomed the decision saying "we are very glad to hear that the
court is very committed in making sure we conclude this case with speed."
When
the court convenes in weeks to come the court shall also hear an independent
medical examination report from Psychiatrist pertaining to the state of Oswald
Lutepo one of the accused in this case. The state is expected to bring the
doctor in the court following a medical report submitted earlier to the court
from Oswald Mtupila lawyer for Lutepo. The report indicates that Lutepo has
developed an Anxiety Disorder a situation which may prevent him from making
appearances at the court.
The
lawyer said his client was admitted at Mzuzu MASM clinic and he is going to be
reffered to Mzuzu hospital. But the state applied to the court to be given
leave to obtain a independent doctor to examine Mr. Lutepo as to his fitness to
stand trial.
The
accused persons in the case of attempted murder of Mr. Mphwiyo are Raphael
Kasambara, Pika Manondo, Dauka Manondo, MacDonald Kumwembe, Robert Kadzuwa and
Oswald Lutepo answering the charges of conspiracy to murder and attempted
murder.
Cross Examination
During
cross examination Lawyer for Pika Manondo Mr. Gift Mwakhwawa quizzed Mr.
Mphwiyo on several issues.
Mwakhwawa
asked of Mphwiyo friendship with one of the accused Oswald Lutepo and how often
he talked to former State President Dr. Joyce Banda.
The
lawyer further inquired issues surrounding a note he wrote at the hospital
hours after his shooting and reasons for his failure to hand it over to law
enforcers. Mphwiyo said he wrote a note disclosing names of individuals
responsible of his shooting and it was made available only to his wife, mother
and aunt "in case" he died without telling his story. He also said he
did not want to disclose that note to police for the safety of his family
knowing that Raphael Kasambara (representing himself in this case) was then a
Minister.
Much
time on cross examination also was devoted on Mphwiyo's reactions to threats
from the accused persons as well as information which Mr. Phwiyo got from a
phone call from former Information Minister Brown James Mpinganjira alerting
Mphwiyo that the accused persons have numbered days of his life to 10 days.
Mphwiyo
who is the state witness told the court that he got numerous threats from the
former Attorney General and Justice Minister Raphael Kasambara who used
"agents" (other accused persons) forcing him to make dubious
payments.
Mphwiyo
said Pika Manondo "used to come to my house we would chat. Then they would
tell me that it is good that you oblige to what the honorable Minister
(Kasambara) is telling you because he is a dangerous persorn." Said
Mphwiyo "But I did not believe he could be dangerous to the extent of
killing a person."
He
later told the court that he met with Mr. Kasambara to confront him on those
threats but did not confront other accused persons for he thought they were
just agents.
Later
in the afternoon the cross examination continued particularly on ownership of
vehicle which Mr. Mphwiyo was driving at the time of his shooting.
The
shooting of Paul Mphwiyo led to revelation of cash gate scandal which involved
public officers and other business persons as well as companies getting money
from government through dubious payments. Both fake and well-known businesses
were getting payments from government without provision of evidence of
provision of service in relation to payments made or through over valued
payments (inflamed procurement prices).
From
the scam Malawi government lost billions of money and lost direct budget aid
from countries that support Malawi government.
