NDC leader Chishimba Kambwili’s lawyers have asked the Lusaka Magistrates’ Court to cancel the warrant of arrest issued against the accused person on Tuesday for missing court in a case he is charged with forgery.

This is according to a notice of motion to cancel warrant of arrest filed by Kambwili’s lawyers from Messrs Mwenye and Mwitwa Advocates, Wednesday.

Kambwili’s lawyer Emmanuel Kaluba has submitted that Kambwili’s sickness is connected to the novel Coronavirus for which he recently tested positive and is now recovering.

Meanwhile, the matter comes up today for hearing of the motion to cancel the warrant of arrest.

On Tuesday, Lusaka Principal Resident Magistrate David Simusamba issued a bench warrant against Kambwili after he failed to appear in court when the matter came up for continued defence.

The warrant against Kambwili was returnable on September 31, this year.

Magistrate Simusamba wondered how Kambwili, who was purportedly sick, could be issuing statements through the media.

But Kaluba in an affidavit in support of notice motion stated that the accused had been sick from August 9, 2020, and was put on bed rest, which had been extended to September 1, 2020.

“The record shows that when this matter came up on August 25, 2020, the accused was not before court and I explained to this honourable court the reasons for the accused’s absence. I stated that the accused had been sick from August 9 and was put on bed rest, which had been extended to September 1, 2020,” Kaluba stated.

Kaluba stated that he did not produce the third medical certificate, which extended the accused’s bed rest to September 1, 2020, but informed the Court that he would produce it later because it was sent to him shortly before the proceedings were about to start.

He stated that in his ruling, Magistrate Simusamba rejected the application for an adjournment on grounds that it was in the public domain that the accused was making public statements the previous day, implying that he was not sick.

Kaluba added that it was true that Kambwili’s sickness was connected to the novel Coronavirus for which he recently tested positive and was now recovering.