The High Court sitting in Lilongwe Wednesday found Annie Mumba, widow to Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources former chemistry professor Peter Mumba, with a case to answer in a matter in which she is accused of killing her husband.
High Court Judge Mzonde Mvula has since set October 10 to 12 as dates when Mumba is expected to enter defence.
Delivering his ruling in the matter, Mvula said the evidence presented by the prosecution is without contradiction and is without gaps, to the point that one cannot argue to the contrary that it is not full of suspicion.
Mvula said, based on the preliminary evidence tendered by the State, there is a possibility that Annie committed an error of omission in the matter.
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He observed that Annie would have to answer 15 questions regarding the death of her husband.
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The questions include why she had delayed to take her husband to the hospital when he had allegedly told her that he was not feeling well at around 10pm.
“Why wait for an ambulance from Bunda, which is far away, rather than go to Partners of Hope Hospital, which is along the way? At what point did it dawn on you to take the deceased to the hospital when, in your own assessment, he had been acting visibly sick?” Mvula queried.
He added that Annie would have to answer why she decided to go alone with Mumba to the hospital, leaving behind the domestic servants who had helped her carry the husband into the car when she alone had failed to get him out of bed.
The judge added that Annie would have to explain why the body of the professor was unusually cold during examination at the hospital— to suggest that he had died more than one hour before.
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Mvula added that Annie would have to explain why she left immediately after the burial of the husband in Mzimba without observing cultural traditions, including kusesa, which only take three days.
Defence lawyer Innocent Kubwalo said the defence would parade a minimum of four witnesses, including Annie herself and a medical expert.
Senior State Advocate Papano Kamwendo then asked the defence to furnish the State with disclosures from the witnesses so that it could prepare effectively for the court appearance.
Soon after Judge Mvula adjourned the court session, Annie was heard crying loudly: “I cannot kill Peter. I did not kill Peter” as her relatives tried to calm her down.
Mumba died on April 25 in 2020.
A postmortem conducted after exhuming his remains in Mzimba, which happened three weeks after his death, revealed that death was due to unnatural causes.
Police then arrested Annie and charged her with murder on allegations that she poisoned the husband.
