The State has appointed Attorney General (AG) Frank Mbeta to challenge a ruling by High Court Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda, who granted Malawi Congress Party (MCP) secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda leave to pursue judicial review in a case in which he is accused of attempting to kill Frank Chiwanda.
Last Wednesday, Nyirenda ordered the immediate and unconditional release of Chimwendo Banda, holding that his continued detention was unlawful and unconstitutional.
The court further granted him leave to seek judicial review against the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Inspector General of Police over his arrest and continued detention.
On Tuesday, the State designated Mbeta to contest the decision permitting judicial review.
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The AG has since filed a preliminary application in the High Court’s Civil Division in Lilongwe, where it is seeking to discharge the leave granted for the judicial review proceedings and to set aside all interim reliefs obtained by Chimwendo Banda.
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An inter partes hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow.
In a sworn statement that The Daily Times has seen, Mbeta argues, among other grounds, that the matter is not amenable to judicial review because an effective alternative remedy exists under the law.
He observes that Chimwendo Banda could have invoked habeas corpus, a legal mechanism specifically designed to directly and summarily challenge unlawful detention.
“Under Order 19 Rule 26 of the CPR, 2017 and Section 42(2)(e) of the Constitution, the claimant could have applied for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge the lawfulness of his detention directly and summarily.
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“This remedy is specifically designed for liberty grievances and is more appropriate than the judicial review,” Mbeta argues.
The AG also faults Chimwendo Banda for allegedly failing to disclose material facts when he told the court that he had no alternative remedy.
“As shown above, this is not true. He has several effective remedies, as shown above, including an application for a writ of habeas corpus, which he did not exhaust.
“I believe that if the application had come inter partes, the court would not have granted the permission for judicial review and the ancillary interim reliefs,” he says.
Mbeta further contends that Chimwendo Banda’s conduct amounts to abuse of the court process and undermines the integrity of the Judiciary.
He says Chimwendo Banda first appeared before a magistrate court, which issued a lawful remand warrant, before seeking bail in the High Court (Criminal Division) before Judge Mzonde Mvula.
He says after the bail ruling was adjourned, Chimwendo Banda approached the Supreme Court before a single judge, seeking, among other reliefs, a stay of the warrant, an application that was dismissed.
He adds that the High Court (Criminal Division) later issued a notice indicating that the bail ruling would be delivered on January 20, 2026.
“On 14th January, 2026, he commenced these proceedings before a different judge in the High Court (Civil Registry).
“Instead of making an application for a writ of habeas corpus, he filed [for] judicial review whose interim orders, in the main, grant him liberty,” Mbeta states.
On Tuesday this week, Mvula ordered the release of Chimwendo Banda without any condition.
The ruling was delivered despite Chimwendo Banda having withdrawn a bail application he had filed in the case in which he is accused of attempted murder.
In his decision, Mvula said, notwithstanding the withdrawal of the bail application, the High Court, as a court of record, was duty-bound to pronounce itself on the matter to clarify the legal consequences and properly manage the criminal process.
