Lester Maganga, who is suspected to have murdered former Coca-Cola Company employee Allan Wittika, has appointed Lusungu Gondwe and Gonjetso Dikiya as his new legal representatives.

According to notice of change of legal practitioners co-signed by Gondwe and Dikiya to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the two, from Ritz Attorneys at Law in Blantyre, have taken over from Powell Nkhutabasa and Innocent Kubwalo of Lion Rock Attorneys at Law in Lilongwe.

In an interview yesterday, Dikiya also confirmed the development saying they officially started representing Maganga from February 5 2024.

He said they appeared before Justice Mzonde Mvula on Thursday where it was agreed that trial should start next month.

Dikiya (L) with Gondwe at the High Court premises in Blantyre yesterday

“The State is yet to make some disclosures and finalise some processes that the court ordered like the mental assessment for Mr Maganga. So the court granted the State’s request to commence the matter on March 12, 2024,” he said.

Dikiya further said the development effectively means that the case will not begin on February 13 as the court initially directed.

“The State was ordered to finalise all disclosures by February 27 and the parties will appear before the judge on February 29, 2024 to report on compliance with directions,” he said.

Both Nkhutabasa and Kubwalo were not available yesterday when contacted.

Maganga, who is personal assistant to Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu, pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder contrary to Section 209 of the Penal Code and that of being found in possession of ammunition without a permit.

Two weeks ago, Judge Mvula ordered the State to arrange a psychiatric test for the suspect before trial starts to avoid disruptions.

The suspect was arrested in October last year and is being accused of murdering Wittika whose lifeless body was found bundled in the rear seat of his official vehicle on September 20 2023 near his house in Area 15 in Lilongwe.

Wittika was laid to rest at Misesa Cemetery in Blantyre on September 22 and an autopsy report showed that he was shot in the head.

His gruesome murder was one of four that occurred within a space of five days in Lilongwe. Other victims were Michael Thomu, an employee of Parliament of Malawi, Reserve Bank of Malawi ICT and network manager Agnes Katengeza and a Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources fresh graduate Jacob Msokera.

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