Wearing a short-sleeved viscose shirt, black trousers and shiny brown shoes, 46-year-old Wyson Bannet looks both freshly groomed and relieved as he walks out of the Blantyre High Court. It’s not that he is free now—far from it. He is on his way back to Chichiri Prison, where he has been since his arrest for a robbery “that resulted in death” in 2007, and he still has 18 of his 36 years to serve. But all that matters, he says, is that his “case is finally concluded.” He then proceeds to tell the assembled journalists that “there are many people in prison who are in the same situation (of detention without trial) over petty crimes or even crimes they never committed.”
The Paralegal Advisory Services Institute (PASI) prison audit report of 2023 says 66 percent of prisoners awaiting trial at the surveyed Kachere and Maula Prisons in Lilongwe are eligible for release, but cannot afford a lawyer. The situation in other prisons, like Chichiri, is thought to be similar. There is little help even for the completely innocent, who often only find themselves in jail because of abuse by law enforcement. The Ministry of Justice itself, according to spokesperson Frank Namangale, estimates that “30 percent of the cases (of arrested individuals) involve (…) police brutality, alleged unlawful detentions and other forms of abuse by state actors.”
Riddled with ineptitude
The Legal Aid Bureau, a state-run government entity, is supposed to assist individuals who cannot afford a lawyer. However, it is unable to do so in many cases, as it receives an average of 390 applications for representation each month across the country and buckles under the weight of around 500 clients per lawyer. Hence, under a system “riddled with ineptitude and lack of collaboration (…) leading to unjustified delays,” as Judge Dorothy nyaKaunda Kamanga put it in her sentencing of Bannet, many silently endure decades in jail—and some die there waiting.
In Bannet’s case, the spectre of decades in jail without ever being heard was real—until Legal Aid lawyer Alexious Kamangila, during a visit to Chichiri, took on his and others’ cases of “unlawful detention.”
Kamangila has in recent years built up a name for himself in the fight for justice in Malawi, mainly through his Facebook page with 87,000 followers. On it, he not only takes up the fight for ordinary Malawians getting a raw deal, but also campaigns for justice to be dispensed among upper-class politicians and members of the ruling elite. In contrast to the poor, who are jailed without trial, the latter category tends to escape justice—even in the face of abundant evidence, and in some cases even after conviction.
Ruling elite members tend to escape justice
Kamangila has therefore recently also taken up the case of Malawi’s richest businessman, the politically connected Thomson Mpinganjira, and others who, though proclaimed guilty, are running free. Mpinganjira was convicted to nine years’ imprisonment in 2021 for attempting to bribe Constitutional Court judges in an elections tussle between the two main political parties in the country. But he is out on bail and about his business, with his court appeal case apparently terminally hindered by technicalities or hitches—such as a lack of a quorum of judges at the time of an appeal hearing.
Kamangila has fervently advocated for the dispensing of justice in the case, naming and shaming especially Judge Frank Kapanda, who granted Mpinganjira’s bail.
Above the law
Several high-profile Malawian politicians have been in court for corruption and either walked free or were pardoned. The case of the now late Vice President Saulos Chilima, who was charged in 2022 with accepting money in exchange for awarding inflated government contracts for, inter alia, the supply of security and military equipment to two companies linked to British businessman Zuneth Sattar, was discontinued soon after it started in 2023. Former President Bakili Muluzi walked free after a 14-year trial—during which he remained free—on charges that he stole US$12 million in foreign aid. Using its constitutional powers, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Malawi discontinued Muluzi’s corruption case in 2023, citing a “lack of sufficient evidence.”
Also in 2023, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera pardoned former Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Uladi Mussa, who was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for corruption involving passport issuance. Former Minister of Information, Henry Mussa, was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment in 2023 but was pardoned after serving five months of his sentence. Former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the late Ralph Kasambara, who was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to murder in 2016, was released on bail pending appeal in 2018. Until his death in June 2024, his appeal was never heard.
Leniency for the rich
Interestingly, in cases where a politician or politically connected businessman walks free, it often doesn’t seem to matter whether the corrupt individual belongs to the party currently in power. Thomson Mpinganjira was allowed to walk free even after his efforts to secure an election victory for the political party he supported failed, and the opposition was declared the winner. The leniency was extended under the Malawi Congress Party of current President Chakwera, which ironically came to power on the strength of a corruption-fighting promise.
“Elections do not dismantle entrenched networks”
"Corrupt systems cannot change quickly simply because a new government has taken power. The elites who control the judiciary and law enforcement remain influential under different administrations. Elections do not dismantle these entrenched networks—they merely shift the players in power while leaving the old structures intact," says Michael Kaiyatsa, executive director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), which works with other CSOs in the National Anti-Corruption Alliance (NACA).
On his Facebook page, Alexious Kamangila names and shames judges whom he believes allow the impunity of the elite to continue while jailing the poor. In November 2024, he published a list of names of the ‘corrupt judges’ against whom he claims to have assembled evidence: “Certified list of corrupt judges (names, including Kapanda, follow). Awawa JSC ingofufuzira procedure, umboni ngosayamba.” (Translation: These ones, the Judicial Service Commission will just investigate as a matter of procedure, but there’s plenty of evidence.)
26 complaints
While criticised by many in and outside the judiciary, especially for publicly naming those he views as corrupt—which has already landed him in a defamation case—Kamangila’s Facebook posts appear to have woken the august Judicial Services Commission from what many Malawians have called a deep slumber. For the first time ever, the Commission, tasked with supervising the impartiality and professionalism of the judiciary in Malawi, has instituted an investigation into alleged corruption in the system, calling on the public to report judicial misconduct. According to an interview in January with JSC secretary Irene Chikapa in The Malawi Nation, it has so far received 26 complaints.
The victory comes with significant flaws, however, lending credence to Kamangila’s Facebook prediction that if such an investigation were to happen, it would be a ‘matter of procedure only.’ Kamangila has already publicly said that he does not believe the JSC received 26 complaints. An ongoing parallel enquiry by the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), which started in October last year, claims to have already received over 40 complaints.
Sugar and oil
Moreover, as also asserted by Kamangila, those heading the enquiry have not, as per prescribed procedure, suspended two judicial officers who are the subject of several substantial complaints. Four of the 26 complaints concern Judge Kenan Manda, who is accused of receiving bribes in connection with businesses such as Eco Bank Malawi Ltd, the Salima Sugar Corporation, and Gam Oil, while eight of the 26 are against Diane Mangwana, who, according to a women’s group, has solicited bribes from litigants, resulting in unjust rulings against women and children and also stands accused of bribery in another case.
Both named judges remain active
Alexious Kamangila has campaigned fervently for measures against both. In the case of Manda, he is now supported by the Malawi Law Society, which has also petitioned the JSC to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations leveled against him. Both Manda and Mangwana remain active.
Even more worryingly, the head of the JSC’s task team is Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Frank Kapanda, the very judge who granted bail to business mogul Thomson Mpinganjira and is the target of much of Kamangila’s ire. Kapanda has also co-presided over another case involving one of Mpinganjira’s companies, FDH Bank, where a crucial court document went missing, leading to the dismissal of the case at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Sustained advocacy
The flaws in the JSC inquiry do not surprise Michael Kaiyatsa of the CHRR, who states that scrutinising this body is an "uphill task due to political interference (and) lack of independence within itself." "To overcome the lack of political will to address the systemic issues will require sustained advocacy, public awareness, and pushing for structural reforms within the judicial system," he says. What is also needed, he adds, is money, as the CSO effort is severely hampered by "insufficient resources," including for legal assistance.
Chair of NACA Moses Mkandawire feels that Kamangila’s efforts need to be supported by “as many Malawians reporting corruption as possible,” and that “there are many allies in this fight.” Though Mkandawire confirms that the entire alliance suffers from very limited financial capacity, the forces for change could nevertheless have an impact, he adds, because “not everyone (in the judiciary) is a rotten apple.” He cites the example of former Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda, who, for the first time in Malawi judicial history, reported bribes offered by Thomson Mpinganjira in 2019 to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which led to the arrest, trial, and conviction of the politically connected businessman. “The Chief Justice did this even though many thought Mpinganjira was too powerful to go through this process.”
“There are many allies in this fight”
Sadly, the wealthy and powerful have, in recent years, fought back against the ACB, arresting, suspending, and harassing its latest director, the passionate Martha Chizuma, until she opted not to renew her contract in 2024. Mkandawire: “The fact that we currently don’t have an ACB director is telling of the intentions of the leadership in this country.”
International community
Mkandawire adds that the international community should take a far more prominent role in addressing the corrupt wealth extraction by Malawi’s political elite. “Why don’t they question these individuals who deposit their monies into foreign accounts? They are supposed to question those depositing huge amounts of money into banks in another country when they are coming from a poor country.”
“Why don’t other countries question individuals who come to deposit money?”
Alexious Kamangila is not without his detractors. Judge Kenan Manda has obtained an interlocutory injunction to stop Kamangila from making public statements about him and is suing the lawyer for K250 million (US$144,425) in damages for defamation. Judge Dorothy Nyakaunda Kamanga, while admitting to the many flaws in the justice system that denied Wyson Bannet his day in court, has also criticised Kamangila for talking to the media rather than the court itself.
Nevertheless, in December 2024, the feisty lawyer received a Human Rights Defender of the Year Award from local human rights organisations Youth and Society, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition, as well as the MHRC and CHRR. NACA’s Moses Mkandawire observes that, even if some criticise Kamangila, he has broken the ice: “He’s raising fundamental issues and speaking on behalf of Malawians.”
Exile
The momentum has, however, endangered Kamangila’s life. He recently fled Malawi following threats to his life (1). Interviewed in exile, Kamangila stated that he had written to the Malawi Police Service to ask for protection, and gave ZAM a copy of the letter, but “they never responded.” Last month, in February, Kamangila’s lawyer, Gift Chimowa, pulled out of the defamation case for which Judge Kenan Manda had opened against him. Chimowa did this after receiving threats, as well as an incident where he was followed “by several vehicles” and had his laptop and court documents stolen.
“People thought I would stop but I am continuing”
Kamangila himself remains undeterred. “In most cases, when things start, they die out. People thought I would stop, but I will continue to do this, even for the next ten years. In fact, in 2025, there will be more issues coming out,” he says.
The Ministry comments
According to spokesman Frank Namangale, the Ministry of Justice "acknowledges that several specific changes are necessary to restore trust in the judiciary." These, he says, would include "strengthening judicial independence, enhancing transparency, improving accountability mechanisms, capacity building and training, streamlining judicial processes, legal and policy reforms, engaging with the public, and international collaborations." He adds that "by implementing these changes, the ministry aims to foster a judiciary that is transparent, accountable, efficient, and free from bias or corruption, ultimately restoring public trust in the judicial system."
One initial sign of the impact of Kamangila’s and civil society’s efforts is the passing in Malawi of the Judicial Services Administration Bill and other related Bills last December. The Judicial Services Administration Bill provides for judiciary reforms that aim to facilitate accountability and prevent corruption in the sector. First tabled in 1994, it is only now, 30 years later, that it is to be enacted. JSC spokesperson Irene Chikapa stated in response to questions that the JSC is following "its mandate as provided for in the constitution" and that "the JSC can only act on officers following the finalisation" of the investigation.
- Voice notes and texts in the possession of ZAM
See the first instalments in this Transnational Investigation here:
Legal Rebels | Cameroon, Uganda, Nigeria, Malawi & Ghana
Cameroon | A new alliance
Awards for author Josephine Chinele
As ZAM was preparing the publication of this story, the news came that author Josephine Chinele won two Malawi journalism awards: one for democracy and governance reporting and one for reporting in the health sector. Chinele won praise for her investigations of judicial irregularities and systemic flaws and the consequences of health funding shortfalls in Malawi. In the health investigation, Chinele exposed the pitfalls of Malawi’s heavy reliance on international donors for healthcare, particularly in terms of the scourge of HIV, and highlighted the urgent need for sustainable domestic financing solutions. Some of the findings of her judicial investigation are reflected here.
Read more about Malawi’s MISA (Media Institute for Southern Africa) media awards.
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