A niece to President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, Manice Hale, popularly known as Manice Abiti William Dawood has been formally charged with case of insulting the president, contrary to section 4 of the protected names and emblems act.

Hale who is also member of United Transformation Movement (UTM) was arrested on Tuesday at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) as she was about to board a flight to United States of America.

On Wednesday, Hale was taken to Lilongwe Magistrate Court for baill application where she pleaded not guilty to the charges leveled against her.

The state has since applied to the court 7 days to finish with investigations which may require forensic experts to analyse gadgets (laptop and phone) for analysts.

Meanwhile the court session is in progress….