LILONGWE (MaraviPost)—Police has once again extended bail for two opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP)’s Members of Parliament (MPs), Jessie Kabwira, Peter Chankhwatha and senior official Ulemu Msungama  to June 30, 2016 pending police’s thorough investigation on the matter. The three were arrested and charged with treason and sedition.

This is the fourth time the Malawi police has extended the bail application. According to the police bail sheet, the three MCP officials were said to be plotting to topple President Peter Mutharika through a WhatsApp conversation. Since then, the Malawi media has be awash with different versions on the trio’s real charges as reports indicate that Attorney General (AG) Kalekeni Kaphale and Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mary Kachale did not endorse the arrest of the MCP officials but rather the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Samuel Tembenu who sanctioned the arrest, a move which has cornered the police on how to proceed with the case.

After the arrest of trio, Inspector General of Police (IG) Lexen Kachama in a press conference confessed to the public that the police did not have proper charges for them saying their arrest was a mere warning to what they were discussing on WhatsApp. The lawyer for the accused, Gustavo Kaliwo, expressed worrisome over the police delay to charge his clients properly arguing that the move is aimed at harassing and intimidating the party through unfound.

Kaliwo hinted that the party will not get tired with the delaying tactics the authority is playing on his clients saying the battle rages on until the truth is known.

“Once again, this is very disappointing development regarding to how the matter is being handled because you can’t expect the police just to arrest someone without proper evidence against them. My clients are very ready to battle with the state in court even now. Currently, we are still monitoring the situation closely as the move is just there to harass and intimidate us as a party,” said Kaliwo.

In an earlier interview with The Maravi Post, Dr. Kabwira, a legislator for Salima North West Constituency, challenged the state to produce evidence against them on the alleged treason saying the motive was to suffocate the insightful role they play as an opposition party on the mess DPP government has inflicted on Malawians.