FORMER Tourism minister Walter Mzembi, who is facing criminal abuse of office charges involving $1,6 million, is reportedly seriously ill and is unlikely to stand trial anytime soon, his lawyer told the court yesterday.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Mzembi’s lawyer, Job Sikhala, told magistrate Hosea Mujaya that he travelled to South Africa on Saturday to assess the former minister’s health and realised that he was not responding to medication.
“Your worship, it’s not by wilful default, the circumstances are beyond us. I even went to South Africa to do an assessment and I even saw that my client is seriously irresponsive to the medication. I am also urging the court to pray for his health as he might not come to court in the near future,” Sikhala said.
However, the State represented by Brian Vito told the court that they were seeking to separate Mzembi’s case from that of his co-accused, Aaron Mushoriwa and Susanna Makombe Kuhudzayi.
Sikhala did not oppose the separation of records.
Mujaya postponed the matter to February 4 for the decision on the separation of trials.
