It was a good news for former minister of Justice and Attorney General Raphael Kasambara Wednesday when the Supreme Court of Appeal granted him temporary relief from prison since his conviction in July 2016
Kasambara, who started serving 13 years for being convicted of conspiracy to murder, went home after over a year in prison while his co-convicts, Macdonald Kumwembe and Pika Manondo, who were sentenced to 15 years each, had to go back to Zomba Maximum Prison pending the appeal on their conviction.
Kumwembe and Manondo were convicted of conspiracy to murder and attempting to murder former Budget Director Paul Mphwiyo in September 2016.
Spotting a black suit and red tie, Kasambara looked visibly happy.
“I was charged with conspiring to murder and, then, with attempting to murder. And the same judge [Michael] Mtambo said I didn’t agree to murder someone. So, how did he convict me of conspiracy because if I agreed with someone to murder someone and the judge says that is not true, he cannot turn around and say I conspired to murder,” Kasambara said outside the court room soon after the ruling.
Justice Dunstan Mwaungulu, sitting as a single justice of the Supreme Court of Appeal, read his 20-page judgement for about two hours, saying, apart from call logs, the State never proved any misconduct and did not prove motive of conspiracy to murder.
“The State never proved any conduct or misconduct on which a conspiracy could be inferred, “ Mwaungulu said in the judgement.
He said, where there is a likelihood that the appeal will succeed, the court must consider where there is an application for bail.
“The first consideration, therefore, on interests of justice, is whether the interests of justice would be served by confinement of the prisoner. The onus is on the State to demonstrate that the interests of justice will be served by confinement. In principle, courts compelled by law and principle, lean towards the liberty of an individual, more so where the court concludes that there is prospect of the appeal succeeding,” he said.
He further said, as long as the appellant is innocent, it is in the interest of justice that the prisoner should not spend any minute longer in prison.
“In this case, therefore, I order that the 1st and 2nd appellants will remain in prison until the disposal of the appeal. The 3rd appellant should be released on bail immediately on the same conditions of bail as ordered by the court below before trial,” he said.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Mary Kachale, declined to comment on the ruling
“We do not have the judgement. We have to go through it first. So, as of now, no comment,” she said.
Immediately after the judgement, Kachale asked Mwaungulu if they could meet in chamber together with lawyers representing the convicts.
Kachale refused to disclose the subject of the discussions.
However, Kasambara told the press that Kachale wanted to file an application to suspend his bail.
“They want to make two applications; the first application is to have my bail suspended; the second one is that she wants to apply before nine judges that they should consider revoking my bail,” Kasambara said.
Kasambara and his colleagues filed the application for bail pending appeal in March 2017.
Kasambara was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment while Manondo and Kumwembe were given 15 years each.

(MPS) on Saturday took murder suspect, Misozi Chanthunya, to the lakeshore district of Mangochi in the process of unearthing evidence on the death of his then reported girlfriend Linda Gasa.
Sources indicate that the investigations’ team went to the alleged crime scene, which happens to be the suspect’s family cottage, where Gasa’s body was found entombed in a concrete bathtub on September 16 2010.
According to inside sources, before the Mangochi journey, Chanthunya was in custody at Lilongwe Police Station.
Chanthunya arrived in the country on Thursday last week after eight years in South Africa, where he was located by International Police in January 2012.
However, Deputy National Police spokesperson, Thomeck Nyaude, could not talk about the investigation but said the suspect is in police custody and has now been duly charged.
The suspect had not been cautioned as he fled to South Africa before police could do so.
“Just know that we have charged him with murder and we will let you know when he is expected to be in court. That is all I can say,” Nyaude said.
Through a South African court, Chanthunya challenged his extradition, arguing that he would be sentenced to death as capital punishment remains intact in the laws of Malawi.
Locally, his lawyer was fighting for bail at the High Court in Lilongwe but the court dismissed the application.

Ministry of Justice spokeperson, Pilirani Masanjala, confirmed the development in an interview Thursday.
“He will arrive through Kamuzu International Airport (Kia) at 4:30 pm through Malawian Airlines,”
Masanjala said
He said the police are expected to caution Chanthunya on arrival on suspicion that he murdered his girlfriend, Zimbabwean Linda Gasa, in August 2010. Gasa’s body was found entombed underneath a concrete bathtub at the suspect’s family cottage in the lakeshore district of Mangochi on September 16 2010.
Chanthunya, who was located by Interpol in January 2012, will be cautioned before his prosecution as he ran away before police could do so.
“That needs to be done before the State can do anything substantial in the prosecution process,” he said.
Gasa’s close friend, Jessie Kachale, allegedly told the police that Chanthunya, who was married, attempted to force Gasa to abort a three-month pregnancy. They apparently went to the cottage to discuss the pregnancy issue.
Through North West High Court in Mafikeng, South Africa, Chanthunya challenged his extradition, arguing that he would face the death sentence in Malawi since the country has not yet abolished capital punishment.
Locally, Chanthunya’s lawyer argued for bail at the High Court sitting in Lilongwe but the court dismissed the application

Malawi Police have confirmed that two people have committed suicide in the capital city Lilongwe.
Lilongwe Police Station spokesperson, Kingsley Dandaula identified the deceased Jimmy Mmera, 33, and Stenala Matiya, 89.
He said Mmera from Kamungwe village Traditional Authority (TA) Chilowamatambe in Kasungu committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom at Kamuzu Central hospital residence (Area 33) on February 25, 2018.
“The sister received a call from her brother (deceased)on Sunday inviting her to go to his house to discuss some family issues.
“Upon arrival at his house she did not find anyone at home but the key was at the main door inside so she managed to go inside the house. After entering the house she saw her brother hanging died in his bedroom,’’he explained.
The deceased was working at CHSU as a monitoring and evaluation officer.
Danadaula said Matiya from Mpanje village, Traditional Authority Chiwere in Dowa district committed suicide at Mpingu Trading Centre in Lilongwe.
He said the head teacher for Lowe LEA School at Mpingu reported the matter to Lilongwe police that his father – the deceased – hanged himself in his bedroom.
Dandaula has urged the public to share their problems with friends, chuchrch counselors and the police victim support unit for advice instead of committing suicide.

Dowa Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Richard Kaponda confirmed the development .
“It is true that we have arrested Esnart Yusuf after suspecting that she exhumed body of a baby at a graveyard in Dowa. The reports we gathered indicates that Yusuf who was once married and broke up with
his husband before re-marrying in the same district has been faking a pregnancy,” said Kaponda.
According to the Police Publicist, Yusuf on February 25 2018 visited Mrs. Delia Chiweza who happens to be her mother-in-law where she claimed to have given birth on her own.
Chiweza then decided to take the suspect to Dzaleka Health Centre for Medical Examinations where recent delivery and pregnancy results proved negative.
“After a thorough medical examination, there was no signs of immediate delivery or recent pregnancy,” said Kaponda.
He said thereafter upon being pressed, she confessed to have exhumed the claimed delivered baby from a graveyard.
Reasons behind were yet to be revealed as this article was being published since Police were still investigating the matter.
Yusuf who hails from Bisela Village, T/A Msakambewa is expected to appear before court soon where she will be formally charged.
Meanwhile, the exhumed body has been reburried after Police visited the scene of the incident.

The suspect, Kelvin Michael Mgosi has been charged with illegal exportation and possession of dangerous drugs.
The Tanzanian was caught with the illicit drug on Sunday afternoon when he was about to board an Ethiopian Airlines plane using passport number AB561955.
According to Chileka Airport Police spokesperson Sapulain Chitonde, the suspect was in transit to Spain from Tanzania via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the time of the arrest.
He said Mgosi tried to beat the airport’s security system by hiding the contraband in materials designed to conceal them past the security scan.
He said: “Upon reaching the security check, the machine detected some substances in the bag of the suspect which led our officers to conduct a physical check of the bag.
“After opening the bag, they discovered that it contained cocaine that was concealed in special materials to beat security at the airport.”
Early this month, the Blantyre Chief Resident Magistrate Court sentenced a Venezuelan national, Andreina Torres, to seven months imprisonment for being found guilty of illegal importation of dangerous drugs.
She was caught with 10 bundles of cocaine at Chileka Internatonal Airport last July.

Griffin Phiri, an Exchange Control, Monitoring and Statistics Manager at the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM), told the Chief Resident Magistrate Court sitting in Lilongwe yesterday that there is no parallel system where an individual can obtain a permit to keep foreign currency apart from through RBM.
When the case moved to RBM headquarters in Lilongwe, before proceedings continued at the court premises, lead State Prosecutor, Macmillan Chakhala, indicated that the defence had submitted a document which purported that Chaponda had been licensed to keep forex by Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe.
The permit has a signature purported to be Gondwe’s.
However, during cross-examination at the court, Phiri argued that the Minister of Finance can only seek guidance from RBM regarding the issuance of a permit for an individual to keep forex.
“For foreign exchange dealerships and individuals, a minister of finance cannot issue a licence. That has never happened before,” he said.
An Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigator, Jack Banda, who also tendered his evidence yesterday, claimed that, before a search at Chaponda’s Area 43 residence, another ACB investigator, Kondwani Zulu, had enquired from the former Cabinet minister if he had any guns or money in the house.
Banda said: “I cautioned Dr Chaponda that he had the right not to speak if he felt so. [However], he proceeded to say the money was from the Blue Night [event] which the [Democratic Progressive] Party had held and that Honourable Nicholas Dausi would collect it. This never happened.”
In RBM’s banking hall, where the court sat for over one hour, Zulu produced bunches of United States (US) dollars, most of which, he argued, might have been withdrawn at same instances as their serial numbers were closely sequenced.
Among others, $100 notes totalling $15,900 have serial numbers that start with LL and end with F; $5,600 has serial numbers that start with LF and end with J; $6,900 has serial numbers that start with LK and end with D while $2,900 has serial numbers that start with LB and end with R.
In total, $57,500 is said to have been found in Chaponda’s possession on top of K124.5 million, R22,170 and several other currencies including Namibian Dollars, Chinese Yuan, Kenyan Shillings, Indian Rupees and Ethiopian Birr.
Lead defence counsel, Tamando Chokhotho, argued that, in all the evidence that was being tendered by the witnesses, there was no conclusion that Chaponda had committed the crimes he is being accused of.
In an interview after the case had been adjourned to today, Chokhotho argued that the State’s argument that one can only externalise more than $10,000 of forex from the US after getting approval for the same was lacking in actual substance of what that country’s laws state.
Chaponda reportedly told the ACB that the forex was change from his foreign trips.
Meanwhile, Zomba Chief Resident Magistrate Paul Chiotcha, who is hearing the case, has directed that Gondwe should testify on the authenticity of the permit bearing his signature which the defence produced.
Both Chakhala and Chokhotho said in separate interviews that they are satisfied with the progress of the case.
Apart from possessing foreign currency, Chaponda is also being accused of giving false information to the ACB and attempting to obtain an advantage while his co-accused, a director at Transglobe Produce Export, Rashid Tayub, is being accused of persuading a public officer to perform his functions corruptly.

The Ngoni leaders—Senior Chief Mpherembe and Senior Chief Mtwalo, including members of Mzimba Heritage Association—were travelling to Songea in Tanzania for the Maji Maji Rebellion Commemoration.
However, the journey was interrupted for some minutes as the entourage was summoned to the Parks and Wildlife offices for interrogation.
The wildlife officials feared that the cultural custodians’ display of wildlife materials could promote poaching and endanger life of animals.
However, after several calls to the parks and wildlife headquarters, the entourage was released on confirmation that they are cultural preservatives.
In an interview, Mzimba Heritage Association secretary Aupson Thole said animal skins and ivory bangles will remain the identity of the ngoni from Mzimba even if it is outlawed to wear them.
“It’s true that our chiefs and some of our members had headgear made of animal skins and we were held for some minutes. But as Ngonis we cannot be identified without animal skins, and it’s something that we have inherited. So, we explained to them and they understood us,” he said.
The case presents the dilemma of wildlife preservation and cultural promotion without endangering lives of animals.
However, Thole said the Ngonis are committed to wildlife preservation and that they discourage poaching by using animal skins from tamed livestock.
“We buy these products from South Africa. Most of them are well-treated goatskins. So, we understand how best to preserve wildlife through our culture.
“However, we know very well that we cannot live without animal skins. That is a very big culture to us. But one thing people should understand is that Ngonis are not poachers. What we have, like the ivory bangles, is inherited from our forefathers,” said Thole.
The delegates travelled about 1 000 kilometres from Mzimba to Songea for the commemoration which took place on Monday and Tuesday.
The Maji Maji commemoration is done in memory of the mass killings of the Ngonis in Tanzania during the struggle for independence and cultural nationalism against Germany.
On Saturday, the Mzimba ngonis, led by Inkosi ya Makhosi M’mbelwa V, were also in attendance of the Incwala Cultural Festival of the Ngoni in Zambia which celebrates the first harvests of the year.

Chaponda’s defence team earlier told the court that the money was “change” from foreign trips that the politician made.
But a fourth witness for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Kondwani Zulu, argued that the foreign currency may not have been change from the trips because it was in a sequence.
“The serial numbers of the dollars were very close as if they were withdrawn at the same time. The Malawi kwachas were in stacks with Standard Bank and National Bank stamps dated November 2016,” he said.
Zulu further said the investigators questioned the amount of the United States dollars, saying the maximum amount one is allowed to have is $10,000.
“We found money in what seemingly looked like the master bedroom. He told us the Malawi kwachas were monies that he changed from US dollars he withdrew from his pension account every time he went outside the country. We asked for receipts but he did not produce any,” he said.
Lead defence counsel, Tamando Chokhotho, said, although they think travelling to Lilongwe is irrelevant to the case, they will still comply with the State’s wishes.
“The fact that Dr Chaponda was found with US dollars in his house is nothing to dispute at all. We are simply going to do what the State wants. Maybe they will prove something but it’s irrelevant,” he said.
However, ACB lead prosecutor, Macmillan Chakhala, said it is a normal procedure which will help the court to understand what the witness said.
“It is very important because you see money was seized: both local and foreign. There is a way that the court is supposed to see those sequences that the investigator was talking about. The defence may think it is not important but, to us, it is very important,” he said.
On Wednesday, during cross examination of third witness Robert Mkandawire, the defence produced a licence of permit that Chaponda claimed to have obtained from the Minister of Finance in 2004, allowing him to have foreign currency, But Mkandawire doubted authenticity of the licence.
In this regard, the State has since asked the defence to produce an original licence to put to rest the doubts the State has.
“We are suspecting that it may not be authentic. We just want to question the authenticity. If he [Chaponda] had this permit, he should have produced it way back. He was asked when he was arrested [but] he did not say [anything] about this permit. So, we have to certify the authenticity of this permit, that’s why we want to see the original and not the copy,” he said.
Chaponda is being accused of giving false information to the ACB, possession of foreign currency in Malawi and attempt to obtain an advantage.
While his co-accused, one of the directors of Transglobe Produce Export, Rashid Tayub, is facing a charge of persuading a public officer to perform his functions corruptly.

The convict has been identified as Frank Nachithi aged 54.
Phalombe police station received a report from group village headman Chanasa that on 17th January he went to the District Commissioner’s (DC) office where he was told by DC’s clerk that he is no longer recognised as chief since his relatives had written a letter to remove him from his position on accusations that he is corrupt among other grounds.
Police investigations revealed that the document was fake and nine names that were on the document were made up by Frank Nachithi who wanted to take over the position of group village headman Chanasa.
Nachithi wrote the letter which had nine different names as signatories, signed next to each name and surrendered the letter to the District Commissioner without knowledge of the clan.
Later, he was arrested by Phalombe police officers and charged with uttering false document.
On Monday, First Grade Magistrate Damson Banda sentenced him to two years imprisonment without option of fine as a lesson and to deter others.
Nachithi hails from Chanasa village, T/A Mkhumba in the Phalombe.

The Former President and his former personal secretary, Lyness Whiskey, are answering charges of corruption on the money which government alleges was public funds diverted to the former President’s personal account. Among others the court says that public officers have to give reasonable explanation on how they acquired their wealth.
The court further states that the provision of the rights of an accused person in the Constitution is valid and not in conflict, that Dr. Muluzi in this case is called upon to respond to how he acquired his wealth. The standard being the position of the court is the scale of probability.
Therefore the court says the application by Former President was ill-conceived which Dr Muluzi lawyers say will contest the judgment.
The ruling was delivered by a panel of three High Court Judges, Justice Dingiswayo Madise, Justice Jack Nliver and Justice Dorothy Nyakaunda Kamanga sitting in for Judge Sylvester Kalembera.
Dr Muluzi ruled Malawi from 1994 to 2004.

Chanthunya is suspected to have killed his ex-girlfriend Linda Gasa in September 2010. Gasa’s body was found buried in Chanthunya’s lakeshore private cottage in Monkey-Bay, Mangochi.
Still in custody: Chanthunya
He later fled to South Africa and has since been fighting not to be extradited to Malawi to answer murder charges.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, Chanthunya informed the state over the weekend of his intentions to surrender to Malawian authorities to face murder charges in connection to the gruesome killing of 25-year-old, according to sources close to the matter.
In a court appearance on Monday, Chanthunya lived up to his word; withdrawing all applications against the extradition process which the South African Minister of Justice had ordered in 2012 after Chanthunya was declared a fugitive from justice by Malawian court.
“He has agreed that he will be coming home to face the charges,” a source close to the matter .
But as of Monday morning, the Ministry of Justice spokesperson Pirirani Masanjala could not confirm whether such talks had taken place and what had persuaded Chanthunya to take such a decision. But, by late afternoon on Monday Chanthunya had told the court he was ready to face justice at home.
“You will recall that there was a matter in court today. Two things happened in court today (Monday). First, Mr. Chanthunya finally withdrew all the applications he had made in court, more importantly the application he made seeking to challenge the decision of the (South African) Minister to extradite him to Malawi. Secondly, the High Court in South Africa has found him to be extractable, so he can be extradited to Malawi,” Masanjala said.
Masanjala further said that arrangements are now underway to negotiate Chanthunya’s safe passage to Malawi which is likely to also involve Interpol, because Chanthunya remains a fugitive from justice.
“He has been 0n the run for seven years so he is still a fugitive from the law,” said Masanjala.
Chanthunya’s lawyers were not immediately available for comment but Masanjala said the state is ready to start the case in court once Chanthunya is home, downplaying questions over strengths of evidence and availability of witnesses, years after the horrendous crime.
Chanthunya’s escape from justice was a novel affair. He was questioned by police in Blantyre in the immediate aftermath of the murder of Gasa, then reportedly pregnant.
Following his questioning, he walked out of a police station without charges which were only laid while he had already skipped the country’s border security and has been fighting extradition since his arrest in South Africa in 2010.
Chanthunya recently launched a bid to get bail through the Malawi High Court but a judge in that case, Justice Esmie Chombo, later recused herself from the case citing “phone calls” she had received connected to the case. The judge did not indicate whether the calls were threats or an attempt to influence her handling of the case.

Balaka First Grade Magistrate’s Court has convicted and sentenced Mastone Mussa, 31, to five years imprisonment with hard labour after he was found guilty of human trafficking contrary to Section 14 of Trafficking Act.
Police Public Relations Officer for Balaka Distruct, Edith Kachotsa, said law enforcers arrested the convict on February 9 2018 at Ngwangwa Filling Station during their routine night patrols.
Mussa, who was driving a three tonne Toyota Dyna registration number SA 5586, had collected money from passengers in his vehicle heading to South Africa, according to police.
“None of the travellers on board had any relevant travel documents which raised police’s suspicion leading to the arrest of the accused,” Kachotsa said.




She further said the accused pleaded guilty to the charge and the court convicted him on that plea of guilty.
In mitigation, Kachotsa said the convict pleaded with the court to exercise leniency when passing its sentence on grounds that he has a family to look after, which would suffer if sent to jail.
In his submission, Police Prosecutor Sub Inspector George Kafumbula asked for a stiffer sentence, arguing that government was losing a lot of money to repatriate deportees whenever they met unfavorable conditions in South Africa.
Passing sentence, Balaka First Grade Magistrate Felix Mandala concurred with the state and gave the convict a five-year custodial sentence, a punishment which he said was meant to send warning to other would – be offenders.
Mussa hails from Chande Village in the area of Traditional Authority Katuli in Mangochi.

According to Blantyre police publicist Augustus Nkhwazi, on 13th February at about 20:30 hours Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bob Ntekama who is based at Central Region Police Headquarters in Lilongwe, was in Blantyre city for other engagements.
Mtekama received information that two men were threatening patrons using a rifle at Kamba drinking joint.
Acting on this information, Mtekama apprehended the two suspects namely Marumbo Mkandawire, 20, and Victor Grant aged 25.
When searched, the first suspect was found with a Parabellum Pistol serial number 20011211 without a magazine and ammunition.
The two were taken to Soche Police where they were locked up.
On Wednesday, two other suspects were arrested in connection with the said pistol.
They are Andrew Bulawayo commonly known as ‘Buju’ aged 22 who is said to be the owner of the pistol and Felix Wamakasu, 26.
The four will be charged with illegal possession of firearm and will appear before court as soon as investigations into the matter are finalised.