By Cathy Maulidi:
Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda has adjourned the case involving opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Central Region vice president Alfred Gangata to Friday this week.
Gangata is accused of using a Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) certificate believed to have been obtained fraudulently.
Gangata, who was arrested last month by the police and is currently out on bail, appeared in court Tuesday, when the court was expected to read him a new charge sheet which has been prepared by the State.
The development follows the court’s order last week, when it instructed the State to prepare a new charge sheet that would properly detail the specifics of the charges against Gangata.
The court’s order was issued after the defence filed an application demanding the dismissal of the charge, arguing that its details lacked sufficient clarity, making it unclear precisely what crime Gangata was accused of committing.
The initial charge sheet prepared by the State read: “Statement of Offence: Fraud other than false pretences, contrary to Section 319A (c) of the Penal Code, Chapter 7:01 of the Laws of Malawi.
“Particulars of Offence: Alfred Luwani Gangata, in the year 2018, at Chitowo Community Day Secondary School in the district of Dedza, Republic of Malawi, by deceit or other fraudulent means, induced Mr. Andrew Ellia Phambala to perform an act, namely writing Malawi School Certificate of Education examinations on his behalf, an act that the said Andrew Ellia Phambala was lawfully entitled to abstain from performing.”
However, the defence team objected, arguing that the charge sheet lacked sufficient particularity, rendering it defective and in violation of Section 42(2)(f) of the Constitution and Section 128 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code.
In court yesterday, State prosecutor Levison Mangani informed the court that the State had redrafted the charge sheet as ordered and that the new charge sheet had been served to the defence.
“We have complied with your directive and served the new charge sheet to the defence last week for their review before it is read out to the accused in court,” Mangani told the court.
Before Banda could proceed with reading new charge particulars to the accused, defence lawyer Khwima Mchizi asked for an adjournment.
Mchizi told the court that the State had served them with the new charge sheet on Thursday and that they had not had sufficient time to review it due to the long weekend and Easter holiday.
“We were only served with the new charge sheet on Thursday and did not have enough time to examine it because Friday was a holiday and yesterday, Monday, was also a holiday. Therefore, we are requesting the court to grant us some time to review it and understand how the particulars of the charge have now been arranged,” Mchizi said.
The magistrate granted the defence’s request for time but emphasised the need to expedite the process so that the case could commence upon their return on Friday.
“What I am saying is, we need to be mindful of time. We need to finalise these preliminary matters so that we can begin [the case],” Banda said.
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