Malawi’s High Court adjourns land case involving DPP’s Vuwa, Mchacha; pleads not guilty

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—The High Court in Lilongwe has adjourned the land case involving politicians Simon Vuwa Kaunda, Charles Mchacha and former secretary to the government, Lloyd Muhara, to a later date after the trio pleaded guilty.

During the plea taking on Thursday, the court made a number of rulings on objections raised by the defence.

One of the objections was that the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cannot represent the State on counts that fall under the Penal Code.

Judge Annabel Mtalimanja has however ruled that ACB can be involved in the Penal Code counts, given that the Director of Public Prosecutions has given a consent.

The three are answering multiple charges connected to an alleged illegal purchase of a piece of land by Mchacha, belonging to the Department of Forestry at Kanjedza in Blantyre.

This happened when both Mchacha and Kaunda were cabinet ministers during the Democratic Progressive Party regime.

The case also involves secretary to Ministry of Defence, Bright Kumwembe.

Maneno Chimulala

I am a journalist, educator, and activist with passion for telling stories about social justice, sports and political issues. I graduated from Mzuzu University. I started my career at the Maravi Post online publication in 2012 as an intern while in college. Upon graduating from Mzuzu University I was offered a job as Sports Reporter because of my background as a goalkeeper and rose to the position of sub editor. I also had a short stint with Nyasatimes, Malawi Punch and Malawi Digest. Over the past seven years, I have worked intimately with rural organizations and communities in Malawi on human rights, girl child education and grassroots development projects. With an academic background in education, I also volunteer as male champion for girls’ education under Girls Empowerment Networks (GENET) in Malawi’s South West Education Division (SWED).