The case was adjourned to March 28, 2013 for defence witnesses to be summoned. The case pitting the State of Cameroon and the former Registrar-in-Chief of the Bamenda Court of First Instance in the North-West Region, Victor Tambang Mbang Menji has been adjourned to March 28 because the counsel for the accused as well as his witnesses were not present at the special criminal court in Yaounde. The head of the college of Judges, Mr Justice Abednego Bea Kala decided that the case be adjourned to March 28, 2013 for the witnesses of the accused to be served with summons to appear in court for the next session.
Yesterday at the second hall of the special criminal court in Yaounde, besides the legal dispositions for the hearing of a case to start, only the accused, Victor Tambang Mbang Menji and two others (witnesses for the prosecution) were seen in court. The bench for counsels was empty. When the college of Judges entered the court room, the head Mr Justice Abednego Bea Kala questioned why the counsel for the accused was not at the court. The accused could not say with exactitude why his lawyer was not in court. Representing the legal department, Advocate General, Richard Wanki said the counsel had not written any reason justifying his absence in court and a case which entails life imprisonments cannot be held in the absence of the accused lawyer.
Another reason why the case was adjourned was because the legal department asked the court notices to be produced and served to a third party who had to turn out the originals of some important documents that constitute vital evidence in the case. The Advocate General said the notices were not given to the third party and this posed a technical problem in carrying out the case. The legal department said the third party has to produce the originals of some copious documents that are vital for the prosecution case. The law provides that if the original of any document are not produced, that is when any party to a case can tender secondary evidence which constitute certified true copies of the original documents. Advocate General Wanki said at the moment, they cannot tender certified copies of the documents when they cannot show prove that they have served the third party who has the originals and who has failed to produce them. The witnesses of the defence were not also present in court because they had not been summoned.
If the lawyer of the accused is not present in court during the next session, come March 28, and the accused informs the court that his lawyer, maybe has withdrawn or that he has no lawyer, the court will assign a lawyer to defend his interest because the law provides that in any trial where the punishment is life imprisonment or death, the accused must be represented by counsel. If the accused does not have one, the court will assign one to him and cover the expenses.
