By Wezzie Gausi:
The case in which former minister of Energy Newton Kambala and others are accused of attempting to influence the awarding of fuel contracts at National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) took a twist Wednesday, when the defence said it would present to the court evidence related to how the company’s former deputy chief executive officer Hellen Buluma awarded some contracts without following precepts of the law.
This transpired when parties to the case went back to the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court, where another set of defence lawyers continued cross-examining Buluma.
Lawyer Wapona Kita said there is evidence that Buluma awarded fuel contracts to a supplier that never participated in bidding for fuel supply contracts.
He further told the court that Buluma’s recordings were not fit to be part of the evidence to be relied upon by the court as Judge Patrick Chirwa already gave a ruling on the matter.
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Kita said, in his determination, Chirwa said Buluma recorded people without seeking their consent.
“Today, we managed to produce to the court photos of Buluma’s iPhone 11 that I took when the defence team inspected the phone on February 15 2022.The photos show that the contents of the phone then, in particular the recordings, are different from what is in the phone now,” Kita said.
Addressing the court, Buluma said she knew nothing about the alleged tampering with the phone as the phone was surrendered to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in September 2021.
Kita also produced a photo of a Sim card that the phone had in February 2022. He said the Sim card looked different from the Sim card that is in the phone now.
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Buluma then agreed that the contents were, indeed, different.
In an interview, ACB lawyer Imran Saidi said there was no way the phone could have been tampered with by ACB officials.
He said ACB follows laws when handling information and materials that are meant to be used as evidence in court.
“Well, this is the defence’s time to cross-examine Buluma and such questions are expected.
“But it would be untrue to insinuate that the phone evidence was tampered with. Time will be given to us when the witness will be made to explain more,” Saidi said.
Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza has since adjourned the matter to today, when the defence will continue cross-examining Buluma.
