Witnesses evasive in Chisale murder case
Some State witnesses yesterday played hide-and-seek when the High Court in Blantyre started hearing the attempted murder case involving Norman Chisale, former president Peter Mutharika’s private bodyguard.
When the State paraded the victim, Sigere Amini as the first witness, she stunned the court by refusing to be a witness, saying that she had withdrawn her case against Chisale.
This prompted senior State advocate Pirirani Masanjala to seek a 10-minute adjournment to discuss the issue with the witness.
When the court reconvened, Amini obliged and entered the witness box where she gave her testimony while maintaining her position that she withdrew the case.
In an interview later, Masanjala said the witness’s conduct resulted from a misunderstanding and that after a discussion, they arrived at an understanding and appreciation of why they were at the court.
“The witness was insisting that the matter was withdrawn, but we had a discussion with her and she continued to give testimony the way we had hoped that she would do,” he said.
In the afternoon, the State paraded two more witness who also caused some drama. Third State witness Felix Moses and fourth State witness Montfort Moyo said they could not recall what happened because they were drunk.
During examination by another State lawyer, Joel Matonga, Moyo disowned the signature appearing on a statement presented by the State, but said he recognised and accepted the signature appearing on the defence’s documents.
This development forced the court to adjourn for 10 minutes to allow the State and defence lawyers to map the way forward. The parties agreed to proceed with the case.
Masanjala said the parties agreed to proceed because there was no much difference in the contents of the statements in possession of the State and the defence.
Presiding Judge Sylvester Kalembera adjourned the case to this morning when the State is expected to parade three more witnesses.
The court is also scheduled to visit the place where the incident happened on May 20 2020 in Chimwankhunda Township, Blantyre.
Chisale was arrested in July last year and was charged with attempted murder of Amini after she was shot on the leg.
