By Wezzie Gausi:
High Court judge Mzonde Mvula Thursday convicted Annie Mumba, who is answering charges of murdering her husband Professor Peter Mumba.
Until his death on April 25, 2020, the academic was working at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources as a chemistry professor.
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In September last year, the court found Annie with a case to answer in relation to her husband’s death.
In his judgement, Mvula said delays to take Mumba to the hospital were an indication that the wife wanted him dead.
The judge added that the evidence that was provided in court to the effect that the academic could go to the hospital for regular check-ups showed he wanted to be alive.
He also said despite testimony that Annie was financially stable when she married Mumba, it was surprising that when the husband died, there was no money for a post-mortem.
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“As a wife, you did nothing sooner to save the life of your husband. If you cared for your husband, you could have driven early to the hospital as the hospital is not far from your home.
“The wife could have at least called the relatives of the husband about the husband refusing to go to the hospital [per her claim] despite being sick. She should not have waited for an ambulance… as she herself is a driver and they have cars of their own,” the judge said.
He added that a wife should be liable for failing to do her duties when her husband is sick, adding keeping an unconscious person for two hours was wrong as that caused the death.
“She was the only one who saw Mumba’s sickness on that day. What raises more eyebrows is her quick action to collect death gratuity without informing the relatives,” Mvula said.
Annie’s lawyer Powell Nkhutabasa said he will abide by the court’s directive that the defence should submit its mitigation points within 14 days.
Prosecutor Dziko Malunda said the State was satisfied with the judgement.
“Going forward, we will make written submissions to the court as to what we think should be the appropriate sentence to be given to the convict,” Malunda said.
The case has been adjourned to July 25 when the court is expected to pass its sentence.
A post-mortem conducted after exhuming Mumba’s 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 her husband.
