BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Defence lawyers in the case involving former minister of Energy Newton Kambala, Aford president Enoch Chihana and former presidential advisor Chris Chaima Banda have confirmed being denied access to the mobile phone for deputy chief executive officer for National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) Hellen Buluma as part of the on-going trial against the trio.
Last week Chief Resident Magistrate Patrick Chirwa ordered that the accused should have access to Buluma’s phone to appreciate the alleged conversation between her and the accused on fuel procurement.
But according to documentation we have seen, defense lawyers have reported to the Chief Resident Magistrate that Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has denied them access to the said phone citing “unspecified security reasons”.
“Without commenting on the document that you may have seen, I can only confirm that indeed as defence we were denied access to Buluma’s phone by ACB, ” said George Mwale one of the defense lawyers told the Nation Online.
ACB Spokesperson Egrita Ndala was not immediately available to comment on the matter.
The developed has raised numerous questions as tio why Buluma’s phone cannott be accessed when the accused persons’ phones were fully accessed by ACB.
Kambala and Chaima both had phones taken when they were still holding powerful positions.
This means they had more secrets to hide on government business compared to Buluma.