Magistrate reports APM aide to superiors, police

President Peter Mutharika’s adviser on national unity and parliamentary affairs Symon Vuwa Kaunda has been reported to police and the Judiciary for allegedly interfering with a magistrate and police’s work.

Kaunda, a former Cabinet minister and member of Parliament (MP) for Nkhata Bay Central, is said to have protested against the police and the magistrate following the arrest of taxi and minibus drivers as well as their subsequent convictions.

The drivers were convicted on Friday by magistrate Anthony Banda of Nkhata Bay Magistrate’s Court before adjourning their sentencing to yesterday.

However, Kaunda is said to have confronted the police and the magistrate over the phone, interrogating them on why they took the drivers to court instead of giving them spot fines.

In an interview yesterday, magistrate Banda confirmed the incident, but declined to comment.

He referred the matter to Nkhata Bay Police Station officer-in-charge Sekani Tembo and his superiors at the Judiciary where he reported the matter.

Judiciary spokesperson Mlenga Mvula also confirmed the confrontation but described it as a “minor misunderstanding” between Kaunda and the magistrate.

He said: “It was just a minor misunderstanding. Honourable Kaunda thought the magistrate should have given an outright fine instead of sending the offenders to remand.

“Actually, the magistrate did not do anything wrong but there was just an overreaction from the other party. The problem is one cannot pre-empt what the court wants to do in any matter.”

While confirming calling the magistrate and the police, the presidential adviser denied threatening them, saying he only pleaded with them to give the culprits outright fines.

He said: “Mine was just an appeal that perhaps these people should be given bail. Right now these eight minibus and taxi drivers are still on remand because of the prison warders’ strike and we never know how long the strike will take.”

Kaunda insisted that none of the convicted drivers were related to him and his action was purely on the basis that he was a sympathiser as well as a member of the court users.

Kaunda is reported to have told the magistrate that should he give severe penalties, minibus and taxi drivers from Mzuzu and Nkhata Bay would set ablaze police stations the way they did in Blantyre and that would be his sole responsibility.

The convicts failed to appear before the court yesterday because of the continued prison warders’ strike.  n