THE Economic and Financial Crimes Court has summoned a medical doctor at Lusaka Trust Hospital, that gave Joseph Malanji eight days bed rest, to explain why his sick note has a wrong forename and why it does not indicate the illness he is suffering from.
Lusaka Senior resident magistrate Irene Wishimanga was expected to deliver judgement in the Former Foreign Affairs Minister’s Corruption case, where he stands jointly charged with former Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba.
The delivery of judgement was brought to a deadlock when Malanji’s lawyers indicated that their client could not attend court, and filed in a sick note indicating that he was unwell.
Chandiwila Nyimbili told magistrate Wishimanga that the ex-minister was attended to by a doctor yesterday.
“Unfortunately the second accused is not before court. The second accused fell ill on the 21st of August, 2025 and the surety is not here because he couldn’t travel throughout the night,” said Nyimbili.
But the sick note presented to the court raised eyebrows with the wrong forename written on it as it read Joel Malanji instead of Joseph or the hypocorism Joe.
Principal State Advocate Mwangala Mwala raised a red flag arguing that the discrepancy in the name was grave warranting the doctor’s presence before court to explain why a wrong name was indicated on the document.
“The sick note has the name Joel Malanji. The accused is Joseph, not Joel,” Mwala said, insisting that the doctor explains both the illness he was suffering from and the wrong forename.
Fredson Yamba’s Lawyer Luckson Mwamba came to the defense of Malanji, claiming it was the use of semantics.
He explained that Malanji is also referred to as Joe and that mistakes on sick notes are not unusual.
Magistrate Wishimanga couldn’t buy into the explanation of the use of semantics in the king’s language and summoned the medical personnel who attended to Malanji, to appear before Court on Monday and account for not indicating the illness and the wrong forename on the sick note.
In this case, Yamba and his co-accused Malanji are accused of failing to adhere to guidelines relating to the management of public resources and possessing property suspected to be proceeds of crime.
Yamba is alleged to have abrogated the law relating to the management of public property when he approved the transfer of K154,201,197 for the purchase of a chancery in Turkey.
Malanji is accused of possessing two helicopters BELL430 and a BELL 206 Jet Ranger helicopter, Gibson Royal Hotel and Seven houses in Silverest Gardens, suspected to be proceeds of crime.
The matter comes up on August 25.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, August 22, 2025
