Justice Maclean Kamwambe irritated with continued delayed tactics cautioned both the defense and the Anticorruption Bureau (ACB) lawyers for waiting to be moved by the court to take action on a case in which the former President Bakili Muluzi and Lyness Whiskey are answering charges of alleged misappropriation of about K1.7 billion.
Justice Maclean Kamwambe was reacting to the requests by both parties for more time to “sort out some issues”.
The case has been at the High Court since 2009.
The defense lawyer Jai Banda asked the court to change the date of hearing commencement from the Kamwambe’s initially suggested February 23 to any date after Easter holiday, a suggestion which the ACB through Director of Legal and Prosecution David Bandawe supported.
Many in Malawi suspect that the ACB is no longer perusing this case with vigor.
Among others, Banda said the appointment of Kalekeni Kaphale as Attorney General (AG) has left the defense team without a lead counsel.
However, Kamwambe said it has been five months since Kaphale was appointed AG which he says is time enough for the defense team to have another lead counsel and thorough preparations for the case.
“We need to do things with urgency because progress in this case has really staggered. In future we may not tolerate lame excuses. This also applies to the state counsel,” Kamwambe said.
He then adjourned the case to April 7 based on the reason that Muluzi will not be in the country in February for the hearing.
