Justice continues to delay in the MK1.7 billion corruption case involving former President Dr. Bakili Muluzi and his personal aide Lyness Whiskey as the State council has asked the court to give them 30 days to review the some of the counts.
The state through its newly hired lawyer Clement Mwala made the application on Monday when the case resumed at the High Court in the commercial capital Blantyre.
Mwala said the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) needs thirty-days to review some of the 15 counts against Muluzi as the availability of witnesses in those counts may not be guaranteed.
Reacting to the plea, defence lead counsel Tamando Chokotho agreed to the plea.
Chokotho asked the court to only resume the case when the state is ready to continue with the case.
Last month, the High Court Judge Maclean Kamwambe rejected Muluzi lawyers’ application to have the case discharged due to the state’s failure to prosecute the case taking into account the moving out of Matemba and Mwala.
Kamwambe, who noted that the state seems not willing to prosecute the case, said he was still hesitant to set the Muluzi and his co-accused Lyness Whiskey free.
The case is expected to resume on June 13 to 17 then from August 1 to August 12 2016.
Muluzi, who was arrested in 2006 and first appeared in court in 2009 in a case that has been subjected to several adjournments and excuses from both the state and defence teams.
There are 15 corruption-related charges against Muluzi and out of them Whiskey is answering three.
Muluzi, who ruled Malawi from 1994 to 2004, is being accused of misappropriating public funds between 1999 and 2005.