By Taonga Sabola & Rebecca Chimjeka Matemba:
High Court Judge Mzonde Mvula Tuesday released Malawi Congress Party (MCP) secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda without any condition.
Mvula delivered the ruling despite Chimwendo Banda having withdrawn a bail application he had made to the court in a case in which he is accused of attempting to kill Frank Chiwanda.
In his ruling, Mvula also directed that should the Republic wish to interrogate Chimwendo Banda on related charges, action should commence by 24 hours notice to him and not arrest.
The judge observed that despite the withdrawal of the bail application, the High Court, as a court of record, was duty-bound to pronounce itself on the matter in order to clarify the legal consequences and properly manage the criminal process.
According to the Judge, the application raised deep-seated issues that required sober reflection.
He stressed that there is no such thing as a simple bail application, particularly where questions of personal liberty, equality before the law and public interest arise.
“In the same regard, a matter dismissed pronto for want of jurisdiction after a legal sojourn in an act of legal naivety cannot be compared with one where issues are intricate and needed sober reflection upon, before condensing them into a ruling. It is often said justice delayed is justice denied,” Mvula said.
“This court dares say that justice hurried is justice denied. Hurry-hurry is not speedy, so an adage goes. Legal issues should be brought to the boil and be left to simmer, afterwards. This takes time, especially when they are commenced just before blanket holidays in public service, before a Judge who is human with social obligations to the establishment,” he added.
Consequently, the court ordered Chimwendo Banda’s release without conditions, directed the State to proceed with committal proceedings within set timelines, serve disclosures and scheduled the matter for plea and directions, while allowing the criminal process to continue.
On Wednesday last week, High Court Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda ordered the immediate and unconditional release of Chimwendo Banda, ruling that his continued detention was unlawful and unconstitutional.
The judge also granted him leave to seek judicial review against the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Inspector General of Police over his arrest and continued detention.
Pending the hearing of the matter, the court ordered that Chimwendo Banda “shall be immediately and unconditionally released from custody, the continued deprivation of his liberty being unlawful, unconstitutional, and in violation of his fundamental rights, including his right to personal liberty and due process of law”.
Nyirenda further stayed the execution of a remand warrant issued by the Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court on December 15, 2025, ordering that “the operation and execution of the Remand Warrant… be and is hereby stayed pending the hearing and determination of the said inter partes application for interim reliefs.”
“An Order of Injunction is hereby issued restraining the respondents, whether by themselves, their agents, officers, or any person acting under their authority or control, from effecting, procuring, or causing the arrest or further arrest of the claimant on any charge whatsoever, pending the hearing and determination of said inter partes application for interim reliefs,” Nyirenda said.
In another development, Parliament has formally written the Inspector General of Police seeking guidance and possible action following the arrest and detention of Dedza Mulunduni Member of Parliament (MP) Moses Kunkuyu, citing constitutional provisions that grant legislators immunity from arrest while performing parliamentary duties.
In a letter dated January 19, 2026, signed by Clerk of Parliament Fiona Kalemba, the National Assembly says it has noted that Kunkuyu is being held at Kanengo Police Station at a time he is required to attend official parliamentary business.
Kalemba states that Kunkuyu is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on International Relations, which is currently holding meetings from January 19 to January 23, 2026, as provided for in the official committee schedule.