Fourth president Rupiah Banda today turned down the summon by the Government Joint Investigations Team (GJIT) to appear for continued interrogations at the Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC).
GJIT spokesperson Namukolo Kasumpa confirmed the development in an interview saying the former Head of State’s lawyers had other commitments.
She said the investigators and Banda’s lawyers had agreed to postpone the interview to Monday.
“We had been waiting for his arrival here but now his lawyers have communicated to us that they will not come. From the communication we have, we are told that the lawyers have other commitments. I am not sure about lawyer Sakwiba Sikota, but we were told that lawyer Patrick Mvunga is in court today for another matter,” Kasumpa told journalists at the DEC offices.
And one of Banda’s aides said it was apparent that the police were intending to effect an arrest on Banda.
“It saves us well; I mean you can see that it was a deliberate move to postpone the matter from Tuesday to Friday. Why? So that they arrest him and make sure that he does not succeed in applying for bond or bail as it is always when you are arrested on Friday. This is not the first time, the State has used this trick all the time and we knew it. It is good that they have agreed to Monday,” a close aide to Banda said.
The former president was expected to appear for continued questioning for the third day after submitting to the investigative team on Monday and Tuesday this week.
On Tuesday his lawyers applied to the Lusaka High court seeking to dismiss the lifting of his presidencial immunity by the National Assembly.
On March 15, 80 parliamentarians out of 158 voted to remove Banda’s immunity amidst protests from the opposition members of the House who argued that the matter could not be tabled in the National Assembly as it was under the court.
Banda’s lawyers contend that Speaker of National Assembly Dr Patrick Matibini’s decision to allow Justice minister Wynter Kabimba move the motion to lift Banda’s immunity was irregular and illegal.
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