The case involving former Justice Minister Ralph Kasambara and his co-accused in the murder attempt of former budget director Paul Mphwiyo failed to start on Wednesday in the High court in Lilongwe due to the national wide strike by the Judicial supporting staff.

The supporting staff are demanding a salary increase of 30 percent as promised by the government last year.

According to defence lawyer Wapona Kita, before they started briefing Justice Michael Ntambo in his chamber, the support staff started singing songs of protest.

“The judge has told us that the case will resume once the strike is over”,said Kita in an interview with the press.

Kasambara was supposed to continue cross examining Mphwiyo in the case.

The shooting of Mphwiyo by unknown thugs in September last year led to revelations of massive looting of public funds which is currently pegged at MK20 billion.

Since the issue came to light, only two case involving former Principle Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Tressa Namathanga Senzani and former assistant accountant to government Victor sithole have been concluded.