Africa-Press – Malawi. For months, Malawi’s security and oversight machinery has been locked in what multiple independent sources describe as a relentless, centrally driven campaign to criminalise former Finance Minister and Leader of the Opposition, Honourable Simplex Chithyola Banda—a campaign that has so far produced no evidence, no charges, and no wrongdoing.
Instead, it has exposed what critics call a dangerous abuse of state power, where institutions meant to protect the public interest are allegedly being repurposed as political weapons.
A HUNT ORDERED FROM ABOVE
Senior sources within law enforcement, regulatory bodies and the civil service say the operation did not begin with a complaint or audit finding—but with instructions from “higher authorities” to find something on Chithyola. What followed was an extraordinary sweep. Investigators from the Malawi Police Service, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Fiscal Police and other specialised units reportedly descended on every public space Chithyola occupied during his time in government.
They combed through records at the Ministry of Finance, examined files at the Ministry of Trade, revisited IMF negotiations, scrutinised fuel import and procurement arrangements, and tracked international travel and engagements—all in search of a loophole that could justify arrest.
They found none.
“There was simply no trail,” said one senior official familiar with the investigations. “No abuse of office. No misappropriation. No kickbacks. The records were clean.”
WHEN FILES FAILED, PEOPLE WERE TARGETED
With documents yielding nothing, sources say the pressure shifted—from paper to people. Multiple insiders allege that civil servants were quietly leaned on, urged to reinterpret decisions, “remember” irregularities, or implicate Chithyola in wrongdoing. They refused.
“The facts wouldn’t bend,” said another source. “You can intimidate people, but you can’t manufacture evidence where none exists.”
THE FARM BECOMES THE NEXT FRONT
Having failed to secure a case through official records or testimony, the focus reportedly pivoted to Chithyola’s private life—specifically Namuleri Farms in Kasungu. Police, acting on a search warrant, alleged that Chithyola had expanded the farm using loans and fertiliser from the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF).
Sources close to both NEEF and the investigation say the claim is entirely false. “There are no NEEF loans. No fertiliser allocations. No financial link—nothing,” said a source with direct knowledge of NEEF records. Crucially, Chithyola is not a politician-turned-farmer. He has been a farmer for years, long before he entered politics, with agriculture forming part of his private livelihood well before he assumed public office.
Yet, according to insiders, the plan was already in motion: raid the farm, confiscate legally purchased fertiliser and inputs, parade the operation publicly, then arrest him under the guise of ‘explaining the fertiliser’.
Legal experts describe the tactic as criminalisation by spectacle—where public humiliation precedes proof.
COURTS STEP IN, STOP THE DRAMA
That plan was halted by the judiciary.
On 16 December 2025, the Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe stayed the execution of the search warrant against Namuleri Farms Limited, pending the hearing of an application to set it aside. The warrant—obtained by the State just a day earlier—was frozen after the court considered submissions from Chithyola’s lawyers and an affidavit sworn by George Jivason Kadzipatike. The matter (Criminal Case No. 957 of 2025) returns to court on 18 December 2025.
To legal observers, the speed and firmness of the court’s intervention signal serious concerns about the basis and intent of the search. “This was not a routine investigation,” said one constitutional lawyer. “It bore the hallmarks of political fishing.”
A PATTERN, NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT
Analysts say the Chithyola episode fits a wider and deeply troubling pattern under the DPP-led government: the systematic use of police, prosecutors and regulators to intimidate opposition figures, particularly senior members of the MCP. Instead of evidence triggering investigations, investigations are being used to hunt for evidence. Instead of due process, pressure and spectacle. Instead of independent institutions, political errands.
So far, every path taken in pursuit of Simplex Chithyola has collapsed under scrutiny. No illicit money. No corrupt deal. No abuse of office. No NEEF loans. No stolen fertiliser. What has been laid bare is not criminality—but the frightening ease with which state power can be mobilised against a political opponent. With the courts now standing in the way, the question confronting Malawi is no longer about Chithyola. It is about how far a government is willing to go to dirty a man’s name when it cannot jail him on facts.
And if this can happen to a former Finance Minister, who is next?
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