Southern Region Football Association (SRFA) Chairperson Raphael Humba has been re-arrested by police after flouting his bail conditions.
About three weeks ago, Humba was arrested in Balaka over his alleged use of a Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) that does not belong to him.
He was later released on police bail and asked to report to National Police Headquarters at Area 30 in Lilongwe.
But on Tuesday, Criminal Investigation Department officers from National Police Headquarters in Lilongwe pounced on Humba at Blantyre Youth Centre where he was attending a football administrators’ course.
SRFA Vice General Secretary Kingsley Simbeye said they are not aware of reasons for Humba’s arrest.
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“We do not know why he has been picked. We do not even know whether it is Blantyre Police or Southern Region Police officers who have arrested him. What we know for now is that he is currently in Lilongwe where he is expected to be charged,” Simbeye said.
National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya confirmed that Humba was in their custody in Lilongwe.
“He will appear before court within the 48-hour rule to know his charges. We arrested him in Blantyre on Tuesday because he did not comply with the police bail conditions. He was required to be making appearances at our national headquarters in Area 30, Lilongwe, following his arrest in Balaka some three weeks ago.
“He did not come to Area 30 on the pretext that he was not feeling well. But we learnt that he is okay and discharging his duties. So we decided to follow him to Blantyre where he was and re-arrest him.
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The information we have is that he is using someone’s MSCE and we opened a case against him in that regard,” Kalaya said.
However, Humba’s son Maurice said his father did not use another person’s MSCE to gain any advantage.
“You will recall that in 2004, my father failed to stand for the executive member position at Fam [Football Association of Malawi] because he never had an MSCE which was the required minimum qualification. Until now, he has never made any other attempt to be elected as a Fam executive member because he knows he still does not have the minimum qualification.
“Then how did he use the MSCE to get anything? Where is the evidence that he got employment using someone’s MSCE? Someone should come forward with evidence to that effect, otherwise we see football politics in all this,” he said.
Humba’s lawyer Gilbert Khonyongwa said Humba was being kept at Lingadzi Police Station.
“I was with him during interrogation by the police at Area 30. The police are saying he is using a certificate that belongs to someone who died a long time ago but my client is maintaining that he has always been Raphael Humba since birth. We requested for bail because after his first arrest, he never flouted his bail conditions.
“We are, therefore, surprised that they have decided to re-arrest him. We wanted him out on bail on health grounds because after his first arrest, he collapsed and only regained consciousness in hospital. The response from the police was that they needed to consult. But we will go to court if they do not help us,” Khonyongwa said.
Humba is the longest serving regional league chairperson having been at the helm of SRFA for over 10 years.
