LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) has come out strongly in defence of Malawi’s judiciary, warning that growing claims portraying presidential pardons as proof of innocence are not only misleading but pose a serious threat to public confidence in the rule of law.
According to HRCC Board Chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba, a presidential pardon granted under Section 89 (2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi is an executive act of clemency exercised on humanitarian or public interest grounds.
The statement comes in response to recent remarks by convicted businessperson Thompson Mpinganjira, who suggested that his presidential pardon signified innocence and invalidated his conviction.
HRCC has firmly rejected this interpretation, stressing that such assertions undermine public confidence in the rule of law.
It does not, he emphasized, constitute a judicial determination of innocence nor nullify a conviction.
“Any claim that a pardon proves innocence is legally incorrect and represents a misinterpretation of constitutional powers,” the statement reads.
“The authority to determine guilt or innocence lies solely with the courts, as provided under the doctrine of separation of powers.”
HRCC further noted that Mpinganjira was duly tried and convicted by a competent court in accordance with Section 42 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair trial.
The organization underscored that the conviction remains valid unless overturned through established legal processes such as an appeal or judicial review.
The committee expressed concern that public statements challenging the legitimacy of court rulings particularly by influential individuals risk eroding trust in both the judiciary and constitutional institutions.
It described such remarks as an attack on the administration of justice and a threat to the principles of accountability and legal order.
“Malawi is founded on the rule of law and constitutionalism,” HRCC stated.
“The same legal framework that ensures fair trial rights also provides avenues such as appeals and bail pending appeal. These mechanisms must be respected.”
While acknowledging the President’s constitutional prerogative to grant pardons, HRCC cautioned against politicizing or misrepresenting such powers.
It warned that continued mischaracterization of pardons could bring both the Office of the President and the judiciary into disrepute.
The organization also suggested that persistent statements undermining judicial outcomes could prompt calls for reconsideration of the pardon itself, though it did not indicate any formal action in that regard.
HRCC concluded by urging restraint and responsibility in public discourse, emphasizing that a pardon relieves punishment but does not erase a finding of guilt.
“We must not allow status or wealth to overshadow the fundamental laws that govern our nation,” the statement said.
“Respect for judicial processes and constitutional order is essential to maintaining public trust and national integrity.”
…Why not telling Malawians what did you do to amass wealth in a poor country like ours….
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-When business tycoons including Shepherd Bushiri and Thomson Mpinganjira speak, Malawians tend to listen. Their recent remarks on the realities of life have sparked conversation but also raise important questions about responsibility, opportunity, and the limits of individual effort in a struggling economy.
On the surface, their message is clear and familiar: work hard, stay disciplined, think differently, and take control of your future.
Bushiri leans on faith paired with action, while Mpinganjira emphasizes financial discipline and entrepreneurship.
It is advice that is not new but perhaps still necessary.
Yet, the reality for many Malawians is more complex than motivational soundbites.
In a country where unemployment remains high and the cost of living continues to rise, telling people to
“work harder” can feel disconnected from everyday struggles.
The young graduate without a job, the vendor battling unstable markets, or the family facing rising food prices may wonder: where exactly are these opportunities?
That said, the call for mindset change should not be dismissed entirely.
There is truth in the idea that resilience, innovation, and personal responsibility matter .
No economy no matter how difficult completely removes the role of individual effort.
But effort alone cannot fix structural challenges such as limited access to capital, weak industries, or policy gaps.
This is where the conversation needs balance While citizens are encouraged to act, leaders both in business and beyond must also acknowledge the broader systems that shape people’s realities. Inspiration without structural change risks sounding hollow.
In the end, the remarks by Bushiri and Mpinganjira may serve best as a starting point, not a complete solution.
They highlight an important truth progress requires both personal initiative and an enabling environment.
For Malawians, the challenge remains navigating that delicate space between hope and hardship where motivation meets reality.
In a remarkable display of appreciation for his team’s hard work and dedication, Thom Mpinganjira has rewarded each player with K500,000 for their thrilling 1-0 win over FCB Nyasa Big Bullets in a TNM Super League match held at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
The victory marked a significant milestone for the Wanderers, as they ended a long-standing drought without beating the Bullets in various competitions. Mpinganjira’s gesture was a token of appreciation for the players’ exceptional performance, which saw Blessings Mwalilino scoring the decisive goal in the 12th minute.
The Wanderers’ defense held strong, protecting the lead until the final whistle blew, securing all three points for the Lali Luban side.
Mpinganjira’s reward is a testament to the team’s commitment to excellence and their determination to make their fans proud.
The win is a significant boost to the Wanderers’ morale and will likely have a positive impact on their future performances.
With Mpinganjira’s support and the players’ dedication, the team is poised to make a strong run in the league.
The TNM Super League continues to captivate football fans across the country, with thrilling matches and outstanding performances from various teams. As the league progresses, fans will be eagerly watching to see which team will emerge victorious.
In related news, the Wanderers’ victory has sparked celebrations among their fans, who have been eagerly waiting for the team to regain its winning form.
The team’s success is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the players, coaches, and management.
The Mighty Wanderers’ victory is a significant development in the TNM Super League, and fans will be eagerly watching the team’s future performances.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The High Court on Friday, December 9, 2022 ruled in favour of businessperson Thom Mpinganjira in a matter in which the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) wanted Mpinganjira to dispose of his shares in FDH Bank.
The ruling comes barely a week after Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Members of Parliament (MPs) wanted to repeal the law (of any convict on financial institution clause holders) targeting Mpinjanjira’s bank but the motion was defeated by opposition legislators.
Earlier this year, the central bank ordered M Development to dispose of his shares in FDH Bank following Mpinganjira’s conviction on charges of attempted bribery.
Mpinganjira together with Nathan Mpinganjira, William Mpinganjira, Annabel Chikondi Mpinganjira hold shares in M Development Limited which is a controlling shareholder in FDH Bank.
RBM and the Financial Services Appeals Committee ruled that M Development should dispose of its shares in the bank but the shareholders took the matter to the High Court saying Mpinganjira and M Development Limited were being treated as one.
In his ruling on Friday, Justice Ken Manda agreed with the appellants saying RBM made an error of law in ruling that M Development should dispose its shares in the bank.
Manda observed that RBM was wrong to treat Mpinganjira and M Development as one and the same entity when in law they are distinct.
“For the avoidance of doubt, [M Development] shall continue to hold its shares in FDH Financial Holdings Ltd and to exercise all rights as such a shareholder. The appellants therefore succeed in this matter,” reads part of the ruling.
The judge also faulted the conduct of the RBM through its governor in the matter saying the central bank made bizarre and unreasonable decisions some of which were not backed by the law.
Manda added that the case would have been avoided if the RBM had followed the law and not dealt with Mpinganjira in a heavy-handed manner.
“One tends to wonder whether there is something more underlying than what meets the eye,” said Manda before punishing RBM with the costs of litigation.
Mpinganjira was jailed nine years last year for attempting to bribe judges presiding over the 2019 presidential elections.
The businessman is currently out of prison after being granted bail pending appeal ruling.
“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm“-Psalm 20:7-8
Malawian-born businessperson Zuneth Sattar and other millionaires such as Thom Mpinganjira should stop thinking small and start thinking big by setting up factories and other labor-intensive businesses instead of corrupting politicians.
Zuneth Sattar
The news that the British government has investigated and brought to court, Malawian-born business tycoon Zuneth Sattar greatly piqued my interest. Why is a foreign government investigating a Malawian? And in the wake of investigations by the United Kingdom by the National Crimes Agency (NCA) how is Sattar boldly saying he is ready to “stand before the court of law and prove his innocence amid allegations of suspected corrupt dealings with the Malawi government?”
Amid COVID-19, forex depletion, the rising cost of living in Malawi and elsewhere in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and manmade and nature-made poverty, Malawians should be given a break in this fiasco dubbed the Sattar saga. According to reports, the allegations of corrupt dealings span several administrations, among them several layers of political, military, and Police players.
Flying around is mention of enormously obscene amounts of money floating about, money that is out of reach of ordinary Malawians, who scrape around to find bus money to get to a hospital, which is infested with the scarcity of medicine, and topping this is the widespread lack of food.
Zuneth Sattar is not the only Malawian to fall into the eagle eyes of the law (Malawi or UK). In 2020, the High Court in Blantyre found the business tycoon and famous face of the Malawi banking community, Thom Mpinganjira guilty in an attempt to bribe the Constitutional Court justices in the 2019 Presidential elections case. Mpinganjira was found guilty and spent some time in jail.
In his defense in the UK case, Sattar is alleged to have released a list detailing notable politicians to whom he has forked out gifts of huge sums of money.
Dr Thomson Frank Mpinganjira retires from FDH
Sattar, who is based in the UK, has yet to face any music in Malawian courts and has been challenged from the shores of the United Kingdom, recently speaking through lawyer Simon Farrell QC, expressing surprise that discussion is wide on social media where a list of Malawi’s current government is circulating but is yet to be formally charged.
This is my advice to the two men and others to whom God has endowed with money in large quantities, you were born in Malawi, you love Malawi, want to and are doing business in Malawi from where you have acquired your wealth; please, instead of lining the pockets of a few Malawians, please take a leaf from two former Malawian presidents by establishing labor-intensive companies that employ Malawians in rural and urban areas.
The two former presidents are the Late Dr. H. Kamuzu Banda and Dr. Joyce Banda. Kamuzu had a millionaire friend called Tiny Rowland who poured millions of pounds sterling into Malawi during Kamuzu’s 31-year rule. Tiny established the Lonrho group of companies (Sucoma, Chibuku Products, David Whitehead and Sons, and Halls Garage to name four of the many labor-intense companies affiliated with this true friend of Malawi). With the Rowland link, Kamuzu also established the Press Corporation that had companies across Malawi including the People’s Trading Company (PTC). These companies created jobs for Malawians in all corners of the country. They also enabled the country to buy shares, nationalize numerous organizations that enabled the government to deliver essential services across the board to all Malawians, and bring forex into Malawi’s coffers.
Former President Joyce Banda (no relation to Kamuzu) won the coveted 1997 Hunger Project Award for Sustainable End of Hunger in Africa. She took her award winnings and invested in establishing the Joyce Banda Foundation School Girls, which was an open door to educating girls in Blantyre. She then turned to her home village in Zomba and established schools for orphans, orphanages, and other businesses benefiting the rural area. Her beneficiaries in Zomba encouraged her to run for a parliamentary seat.
In 1999 she did that, was elected, and nominated to a ministerial position in her maiden seating as a parliamentarian! So powerful was her contribution to the cause called “Develop Malawi,” she was soon promoted to foreign affairs minister. Here again, it was her love and contribution to the “Develop Malawi” cause that she was selected to be Bingu’s running mate in the 2009 Presidential elections. Banda was occupying the Vice President’s seat on the fateful April 2010 day, when Malawi’s former President Bingu Wa Mutharika passed away due to cardiac arrest. She became Malawi’s and SADC’s first female president.
In all this time, neither Kamuzu nor Joyce Banda thought to line any politician’s pockets, nor were their pockets lined by any business moguls. Indeed, it was Kamuzu’s business mogul friend Tiny, who established a myriad of companies; regrettably, all these companies were ditched into the sea through the disgusting and deceptive Privatization program that Malawi blindly adopted on the threshold of democratic governance in 1994.
My big advice to Mr. Sattar and the likes of billionaires like Thom Mpinganjira is for them to help Malawi:
Think 18 million Malawians.
Keep your list of the people you have corrupted; it takes two to tangle, you are as guilty; like the one with the money, and your desire to continue increasing it, presumably led you to throw the corrupt line to those on the list.
Below is outlined something moneybags Malawians can do with their money while doing business in Malawi, which is their country.
Please invest money in establishing manufacturing companies. Through these companies, a positive domino effect takes place that enriches local farmers, re-creates the cloth manufacturing industry (that DWS has killed), revives the tailoring business, which gives jobs to thousands of qualified tailors, many of whom are street vendors, and boasts our forex earning. A negotiation can be entered with the government to ban second-hand clothing!
It is reported that Sattar has contracts to supply imported uniforms to the Army and the Police. There are uniforms that are also needed by the prison wardens and prisoners (a reliable report states that there are currently 100 sewing machines in the prison system that are sitting idle). Why is Malawi still importing uniforms for the military and police? The uniforms can be made in Malawi to be used by Malawian personnel and made by Malawians! Why should Malawi be ordering uniforms from outside the country, depleting the forex that Malawi is always running out of?
Secondly, Malawi grows cotton. Currently, tons of the crop are languishing in warehouses in the Lower Shire, since DWS prefers to import fabric from outside the country (another forex thief). Sattar and others, please work with Malawi cotton farmers, buy their cotton, open a manufacturing company, and start a uniform-making company. In this one avenue, you would supply the Army, Police, Prison (wardens and prisoners), and the medical industry with uniforms, employing thousands of Malawians, a spillover effect to millions.
Thirdly, Malawian moguls should be thinking heavily about the sugar industry. As Malawi is negotiating with the ACP-EU Agreement 2022-2042 (it’s been reported how that’s going down a rat-hole), please plant sugar canes and establish a sugar-manufacturing company or buy back the existing one so as to get back Malawi’s quota that is sold to the EU. This would bring back to the shores of Malawi the forex from the sale of Malawi sugar.
Rich Malawians, please unite, get to the drawing board, stop lining pockets of individual Malawians, and line pockets of all Malawians. If Bill Gates and other international moneybags have done it, Malawian moguls can do it too. Ditch the politicians, think 18 million Malawians: this is thinking big.
Don’t think small, think big. Malawians will be praying for the moguls as they consider the proposals laid above!
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi’s business mogul Thom Mpinganjira was on Friday, February 4, 2022 granted bail pending his appeal against his conviction and nine-year prison sentence.
Justice Frank Kapanda of the Supreme Court of Appeal has made the ruling following an application by Mpinganjira.
Mpinganjira granted bail
The businessperson was sentenced to nine years in prison last year for attempts to offer bribe to Constitutional Court Judges.
The Supreme Court ruling comes a month after High Court Judge John Chirwa in Blantyre dismissed Mpinganjira’s application for bail pending appeal and ordered Mpinganjira to pay costs for the bail application proceedings.
The businessperson appealed against the High Court ruling at the Supreme Court of Appeal and he has been successful.
Mpinganjira, the former head of FDH Financial Holdings Limited, was convicted on September 10, 2021 and in October he was sentenced to nine years in prison over his attempts to offer K100 million bribe to five judges who were presiding over the 2019 presidential elections case.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi businessman Thomson Mpinganjira has appealed at the Supreme Court of Appeal against the High Court ruling that dismissed his application for bail pending appeal.
This comes barely weeks after High court Judge John Chirwa in December 2021 dismissed with costs Mpinganjira’s application to be released on bail pending appeal.
However, Mpinganjira’s lawyer, Alexious Nampota told the local radio MIJ that a single judge of the Supreme Court will hear the appeal on the 13th of this month.
Mpinganjira is serving a nine-year jail term after he was convicted of attempting to bribe judges – who heard the presidential election case to rule in favor of former president Peter Mutharika and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
Judge De Gabriella found Dr Mpinganjira jailed of bribing judges (from left)
On Tuesday this ending week, the country’s judicial system scored yet another higher mark in the face of some husky court records though.
The buyer of the judges of the June 2020 fresh presidential case, Dr Thom Mpinganjira, the apparent business magnate, was finally slapped with a nine year jail term as his punishment for trying to divert justice course.
This verdict was received with mixed reactions from different pockets of Malawians. Some – including his lawyers – were of the opinion that it was not fair for the gentleman to be given such a jail term; considering his age characterised by ill health and also his open-handedness shown by his desire to help others in times of need.
Well, that might be a fair lens took at the man and his predicament. However, others still felt that if the man knew his health conditions and his generosity, he would perhaps tell his heart of hearts that he should not do what he did because; in the event that the conspiracy backfires, the way it did, he would suffer it alone. And so, he’d better let the sleeping dogs lie. He, instead, did the opposite. And here are the consequences. So, let him yield what he sowed by his hands!
Be what it may! But earlier last month, I argued in this column that this case was a promising precedent for our justice system in the country. I continue to assert the same now that the verdict vindicates my assertion.
You see, what decelerates Malawi’s development is not only inadequacy of economic resources, but also the selfish mindset of a handful of Malawians; like this semi-sage Mpinganjira, who think that the nation belongs to only them and the rest of the majority are but plebeians who deserve nothing but total suffering.
It is satisfying news that this case; which branched from yet another big case, which caught global attention, has been concluded within a relatively short period of time. As Malawi is better known for, cases of this nature take decades and decades before their conclusion.
Remember the corruption case of former Malawi leader, Bakili Muluzi, who is alleged to have diverted K1.7 billion, meant for the whole nation, into his personal pockets. It is over ten years now since the matter was taken to the bar. But to date, there is nothing substantial coming out of it. Why? It is because the fish in the net is too big to tear the net apart. What a joke!
Besides that, there is the very recent case of the pompous Paul Mphwiyo, the 2013 national budget director. In his light, a fraud case of over K2 billion is now over seven year at the court and its future too is arguably in limbo. The factors leading to its procrastination are but similar to Muluzi’s case: The big fish business. Malawi and her shenanigans!
In the face of these and other nauseating matters at the courts, it is worthy to acknowledge the job well done by Judge Dorothy DeGabrielle. The matter was seemingly too sensitive but she proved her substance.
It is not that the judiciary is very angelic. It is a fact that the system is highly riddled with corruption let alone understaffedness, but this case has arguably run through a straight course of justice; what more a shorter time frame! Let the precedent be set for us all to follow!
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi’s business mogul Dr. Thomson Mpinganjira is admitted at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH in Blantyre.
Mpinganjira is on remanded at Chichiri Prison after being convicted for attempting to bribe the five constitutional court judges is said to have been taken to hospital on Sunday morning, September 19, 2021.
Assistant Commissioner of Prisons and In-Charge for Chichiri Prison, Thomas Damba and Health officials at QECH confirmed the development saying Mpinganjira is at the facility undergoing brain examinations.
The High Court is yet to set date for Mpinganjira’s sentencing.More to come….
Judge De Gabriella found Dr Mpinganjira guilty of bribing judges (from left)
MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-The outcome of the virtually week long announcement of the ruling of one Malawi’s business mogul Dr Thom Mpinganjira’s alleged Constitutional Court judges bribery case by Judge Dorothy De Gabriella, produced a promising breed on Friday last week.
Most definitely, keen followers of the matter went home and took a cup of whatever they always take with a brand new ray of hope for the country insofar as combating high profile corruption cases and the reputation of courts and their speed on dealing with such matters is concerned.
When Judge De Gabriella concluded her ruling on the case, it became an open secret that Dr. Mpinganjira had pulled the tail of a sleeping lion from its socket; and so the lion had every reason to attack. And since it was provoked, let it now maraud mercilessly.
It was in 2019 when the current Head of State, Dr Lazarus Chakwera and his vice, Dr Saulos Chilima, took the results of the year’s presidential polls to court protesting that the same were marred with numerous irregularities, and so the court had to order a fresh version of the constitutional exercise.
In no time, the court really found the results of the polls wanting and quickly constituted a five member panel of judges to review the results in a constitutional court. It was, thus, during the determination of this matter that Dr Mpinganjira allegedly went to town with his fat wallet to shop the judges’ intelligence in favour of the then clueless ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
He purportedly planned to execute the master plan by calling one of the judges and hold talk with him at a dark corner whence the K100 million contents of the wallet would be shared equally among the five of them. This was probably where the whole plan turned into a fiasco. The presumably smartest judge whom Dr Mpinganjira approached spilled the beans instead of saving them. Mpinganjira was then in for it. It was this arguably simple start of events that has led to the whole matter: Mphuno salota!
The matter is now finalised. The nation is only waiting with bated breath for Judge De Gabriella to determine for how many years should Mpinganjira languish behind bars as a reward for his selfish intentions to drag the whole country into the fangs of the then miserable ruling DPP and its machinations. Shame!
At least for now, the country needs a therapy more than ever before. Let the court vindicate itself now that it is a self reforming institution which Malawians should trust further that it truly represents fairness and justice regardless of the political, economic or social status of who the criminal standing in the dork.
For sometime now, Malawians have lost their trust in the judicial system because the judges are also well known to be another corrupt lot that plays the dirt under the sheet and look clean on the street. And surely, part of evidence on this is the confidence and courage Dr. Mpinganjira had in trying to bend the reasoning of the judges in the 2019 presidential case with his enticement. He surely believed it was a possible deal; bearing in mind that the culture of corruption was conspicuous on the men in wigs.
The conclusion of the matter in question is a pacesetter as regards corruption cases in Malawi; in which cases of such big fish seems to be infinite at the expense of the country’s crawling economy and the continued suffering of Malawians.
It is so reassuring that the matter has taken a shorter period of time as compared to other corruption related cases of other kingpins which run for ages without even being concluded; jeopardising the standards of justice and draining hope of Malawians.
Now that the court has raised the bar to this far, let justice go far and wide and bring all other corrupt kingpins down to face it. I mean, for long how shall the country be haven to a few privileged while the majority of Malawians wallow in abject poverty induced by others?
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