Malawi’s Vice-President, Cassim Chilumpha, on Thursday refused for a second time to enter a plea to charges of plotting to kill President Bingu wa Mutharika through South African hit men.
Lawyers representing Chilumpha told the Malawi High Court that the charge sheet by the state was defective and should not be admitted in court.
”A charge sheet should contain a statement of offence with particulars of the offence,” lawyer Tamando Chokhotho said. ”It is a requirement that evidence be given and that the particulars should have adequate information regarding the case.”
Chilumpha was arrested in April last year and later charged with conspiracy to murder and treason.
The vice-president was charged along with tycoons Yusuf Matumula and Rashid Nembo, both allies of former president Bakili Muluzi, after a Malawian minister said they had hired South African hit men to kill the president.
Chilumpha had been sacked by Mutharika in February last year, but the president was forced to reinstate him following a court ruling. — Sapa-AFP