By Pemphero Malimba:
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) senior members Jessie Kabwila and Vitumbiko Mumba were on Monday granted bail after being formally charged by the Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate (SRM) Court.
During court proceedings on Monday, Mumba and Kabwila were charged with fabrication of false news likely to cause fear and public alarm.
The two are alleged to have published a false statement “we have got this” which alleged electoral fraud by the-then opposition Democratic Progressive Party before the Malawi Electoral Commission announced results.
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Prosecutors claim that the alleged statement could have disturbed peace.
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The defence proceeded to apply for bail, which SRM Bracious Kondowe granted.
Kondowe ruled that each accused person be bonded at K1 million cash, surrender their passports and report to police headquarters in Area 30, Lilongwe City, once every fortnight.
He also adjourned the matter to January 28, 2025 for plea taking of the accused.
On the other hand, Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda referred MCP secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda to the hospital to access medical treatment before proceeding to prison awaiting committal of his case to the High Court. This happened after Chimwendo Banda and co-accused Alfred Dallah Kadula were charged with attempted murder, allegedly committed in 2021.
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However, the court distanced itself from Kadula on the State’s application for his remand.
During the court proceedings, in the Chimwendo Banda and Kadula case, defence lawyer George Kadzipatike told the court that Kadula was not supposed to be arrested and remanded in prison due to a high court injunction dated November 14, 2025 that restricts the police from making his further arrests.
On the other hand, Kadzipatike told the court that Chimwendo Banda has been sick since he was arrested on Friday last week due to a medical condition which dates back to some years ago.
He said, in 2024, he was referred to South Africa, where he was treated but it resurfaced after his recent arrest.
“We tried to inform police officers at Kanengo and investigators of the case to take the second accused person [Chimwendo Banda] to the hospital, to no avail,” he said.
He asked the court to allow Chimwendo Banda to access medical treatment at Asamala Private Hospital, where he has been accessing medical attention to this condition.
“Once the accused [Chimwendo Banda] has recovered and is certified to be recovered by his medical practitioners, he can proceed to be remanded at prison pending his trial at the High Court,” he said.
Another defence lawyer Khwima Mchizi said the court needed to allow a medical assessment to be taken on the accused before remanding him to prison.
“I believe, in making the decision, the court has to consider that he has a right to health. I pray that the court orders that the accused be in the hands of [medical] practitioners of his choice. We are glad that the State wants to pay for his [Chimwendo Banda’s] medical services but our only prayer is that the medical practitioner should be of his choice,” Mchizi said.
But State prosecutor Prescott Mwayiulipo told the court that the High Court order restraining the police from arresting Kadula did not restrict the court from remanding him.
Mwayiulipo said the State was just requesting the two to be remanded so that a committal certificate can be delivered, allowing the matter to be tried at the High Court.
In an interview after hearing of the cases, one of the defence lawyers, Silvester Ayuba James, said he was happy that the court agreed with the defence.
