Mama Kadzamira testifies in sister’s murder case
Former government official hostess, Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira, appeared before the High Court sitting in Lilongwe Tuesday to testify in a homicide case in which her older sister Lucy Kadzamira is alleged to have been killed.
She was among three State witnesses that were paraded before Judge Mzonde Mvula.
Her sister was allegedly killed at her Area 47 residence, Lilongwe, in October 2019.
Kadzamira told the court that police visited her home on October 18, when they informed her that Lucy’s vehicle, a Mazda Demio, was found at Nsaru in Lilongwe and asked her to escort them to her sister’s house.
The court heard that when they entered the house, they found Lucy lying lifeless, with her head covered with a bucket.
“My lord, we noted that there was a body of my sister on the floor. The body was lifeless; she was dead,” Kadzamira told the court.
She added that an autopsy done by pathologist Charles Dzamalala revealed that Lucy was poisoned.
She asked the court for a speedy trial, indicating that the family is traumtised.
A 26-year-old suspect, Arafati Gomani Funsani, who appeared before the court yesterday, pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder.
Another suspect is at large.
Another witness, primary school teacher Ackim Kazembe, told the court that Funsani offered the said vehicle for sale to him at K1.6 million but failed to produce a blue book.
He alleged that the suspect advised him to buy the vehicle and keep it in hiding for two months as he [the suspect] prepared to travel to South Africa.
Kazembe told the court that Funsani just told him that the vehicle was given to him by his boss to sell.
He said Funsani told him that the owner was old, sick and with a few days to live.
Another witness, Collins Kaliza, told the court that when he escorted police officers to the deceased’s house, they found the body inside the house in a decomposed state.
After the court session, State prosecutor Dzikondianthu Malunda said they were happy with progress of the case.
“Progress has been good and, so far, we have paraded three witnesses,” he said.
Malunda said five more witnesses, including Dzamalala, will be paraded in the case.
The case has been adjourned to Thursday, February 23 2023.
Mathews Kasanda is a journalist who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from University of Malawi (The Polytechnic).
In 2015, Media Institute of Southern Africa awarded him the Best Print Media Education Journalist of the Year accolade.
He joined Times Group Newsroom in September 2019.
