Tag Archives: Zomba High Court

Human Rights, Law and order

Malawian man in Zomba jailed 50 years for defiling stepdaughter

Maravi Post Reporter

ZOMBA-(MaraviPost)-The Zomba high court on Friday, October 22, 2021 jailed a 31 year old man sentenced to 50 years imprisonment with hard labour for defiling his nine year-old-step daughter.

According to the State prosecutor sub inspector Ezekiel Kalunga of Jali police station post that on July 6, 2021, the victim was sent to  a certain market within the area to sale doughnuts and it was after few minutes later when she come back home to drink water.

While there she met her stepfather identified as Mustafa Yunus who dragged her inside house where she was defiled and threatened not to reveal it to anybody

“Later on her grandmother noticed some blood which was coming from her private parts and took her to Zomba central hospital where she revealed the issue to the doctor,” said Kalunga.

The matter was then reported to Jali police station and the accused was arrested

Appearing before court, Yunus pleaded not guilty to the charge leveled against him.

This prompted the state to parade four witnesses who testified against him to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

In his submission, Kalunga pleaded with the court for stiff sentence saying the accused had a responsibility to look after the victim, but chose to violate his responsibility,.

She added that defilement cases are becoming rampant in the country and offenders deserved hard punishment.

Passing the sentence, Justice Nzondi Mvula concurred with the state about the seriousness of offence and slapped Yunus with a 50 years jail term.

Yunus comes from Mapila Village, Traditional Authority (T.A) Mwambo in Zomba.

Law and order, Malawi

Malawi Court convicts Chanthunya over Zimbabwean female student Linda Gasa murder

Maneno Chimulala
Masozi Chanthunya

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—High Court in Zomba has convicted Misozi Chanthunya after finding him guilty of murdering Zimbabwean girl, Linda Gasa, in 2010.

Reading a judjement, Judge Ruth Chinangwa said Chanthunya was responsible for the death of Gasa at his family’s private cottage in Monkey Bay, Mangochi, where the body was found entombed under concrete.

Chanthunya, who fled to South Africa before he was extradited back to Malawi a few years ago to answer the murder charges, is allegedly to have been in a serious relationship with the Zimbabwean girl who was by then studying at Malawi College of Accountancy.

During the court’s proceedings, the State’s first witness, Jessie Kachale, told the court that she last spoke to the deceased on August 4 2010 at around 6pm.

She told the court that Gasa was her sister-in-marriage.

However, Kachale lined up the events that happened between the day when the deceased went missing to her burial day.

On or about the 4th of August 2010 Linda Gasa was murdered at the hands of Mr. Misozi Chanthunya

Among other things, the witness told the court that police assisted them to discover the body of the late Gasa.

Kachale, who was in tears, also said that Gasa’s body was buried in Zimbabwe and it was in a decomposed state.

Judge Chinangwa is expected to sentence Chanthunya next week Wednesday.

Malawi, Opinion, Top News

High Court snubs MHC over rent hike

MaraviPost

ZOMBA-(MaraviPost)-The High Court in Zomba on Tuesday rebuffed the Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC)’s application to vacate an injunction in which tenants obtained to restrain the corporation from effecting a 48 percent house rental adjustment.

MHC planned to implement the adjustment in full effective on Friday September 1 2017 contrary to initial suggestions to roll it out in phases.

The development comes after last week Wednesday; the tenants through their lawyer Maxwell Tembo obtained an injunction restraining the MHC from effecting the adjustment.

The tenants are protesting the hike on the ground that it is unreasonable and do not reflect the rising cost of living in the country.

MHC Tenants Association spokesperson Goodnews Mphande said MHC lawyers tried to vacate the injunction but Judge Redson Kapindu rebuffed their application.

MHC spokesperson Ernestina Lunguzi was not available for comment on the matter as she was locked up in a meeting.

In June this year, the corporation’s tenants threatened to hold a nationwide strike and drag the corporation to court after it had communicated that it was going to hike house rentals by an average 48 percent supposedly to be put into effect on July 1.

It was after the threat that the overall increase percentage was reduced to 43 percent, which the tenants still protested, forcing MHC to rescind its decision until further notice.

A month later, the corporation announced that it would implement new house rentals for its units nationwide.

It justified its decision to adjust the rentals upwards to raise funds for maintenance works, construction of more houses and to meet escalating costs.

MHC chief executive officer Eunice Napolo is on record to have told journalists that the corporation has in recent years been surviving on sales of plots and not on house rental revenue; hence, does not have enough funds to maintain its houses.

Boasting of about 6 000 housing units across the country, MHC is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament of 1964 and is wholly owned by the Malawi Government.

Under the MHC Act of 1964 the corporation is empowered to construct houses, develop plots and maintain existing houses and plots.

Malawi

Malawi human rights groups laud Zomba high court: Sex workers case  

Maravi Post correspondent

Prostitutes on cloud nine with 'good' judgement
Sexes Workers on cloud nine with ‘good’ judgement

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—Human rights organisations which include Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC), Centre for Human Rights Education, Advice and Assistance (CHREAA), Malawi Sex Workers Alliance (MASWA), Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), BADILIKA Foundation, ARTICLE 3 Group, Youth and Society, Lawyers Forum for Human Rights and the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), have jointly commended the landmark decision by the High Court in Zomba to set aside the convictions and fines imposed on 19 sex workers who were convicted and fined by the Dedza Fourth Grade Magistrate Court in February 2016 for living on the earnings of prostitution. Continue reading Malawi human rights groups laud Zomba high court: Sex workers case   →