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The High Court in Blantyre on Thursday admitted state witness Rice Mafosha, rejected the previous day by defence lawyer Michael Mtambo, in the case in which Clive Macholowe and Yusuf Sanudi are answering murder and robbery charges.
Mtambo asked the court not to allow state witness Mafosha to testify against Macholowe “because his intended evidence included facts of the Thyolo National Bank armed robbery case, which, are irrelevant in the present case and would prejudice the jury and the court”.
“Matters of previous convictions are not supposed to be brought to the court at this time as they may prejudice the court and the jury against the accused. Let the accused be tried in isolation of his earlier conviction because these are two different matters,” said Mtambo in his objection.
Macholowe was convicted of robbing Thyolo National Bank branch of K800,000 on 27 November 1997 and was sentenced to 10 years IHL. He was pardoned by former president Bakili Muluzi in April last year.
But judge Chiudza Banda quashed Mtambo’s objection and upheld Director of Prosecution (DPP) Ishmail Wadi’s plea that Mafosha be allowed to testify in the case.
Wadi said a fact from another case could still be used as evidence if it is relevant to another matter under trial, according to the Criminal Code.
“The guns used in the Thyolo robbery are the same. The cases were investigated as twin cases. One case on the 25th of November, the other 27, in a similar fashion, masked men conducting an armed robbery,” said Wadi.
“There is overlapping of evidence here. Pointers leading to the arrest of the accused are very crucial because the robbers in both incidents were masked and nobody saw them. It is only fair that the detective be allowed to explain how he uncovered the pointers,” said Wadi.
Ruling on the issue on Thursday, Chiudza Banda said Mafosha should be allowed to testify on condition that the witness makes no reference to the Thyolo armed robbery case.
“I am satisfied that the evidence by Mafosha falls within multiple admissibility of evidence and is therefore admissible. The DPP is strongly advised to have a strong counselling with Mr Mafosha and restrict him to findings of his investigations in the murder case of the police officer,” said Banda.
Mafosha was the officer in charge at Blantyre police station and headed the investigation team in the armed robbery and murder of a police officer at Blantyre district education offices that took place on 25 November 1997.
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