APM’s stepson faces murder, 4 more picked

Police in Lilongwe have disclosed that former president Peter Mutharika’s stepson Tadikira Mafubza will face murder and human trafficking charges for his alleged connection with the mass grave uncovered in Mtangatanga Forest in Mzimba.

National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya, in a statement issued yesterday, said four more people have been arrested, including Samuel Navaya, driver of a Scania truck belonging to Tadikira.

Kalaya said police have also impounded two vehicles in connection with the deaths of the 30 suspected victims of human trafficking exhumed from the mass grave on November 18 2022.

“All the suspects have been charged and will appear in court on Friday [yesterday], in Lilongwe where they will answer murder, human trafficking and related charges.

“Collected evidence connects all the five suspects to the case and points to the role each one played. The impounded vehicles are a Scania van belonging to Mr. Mafubza Mutharika believed to have carried the suspected migrants and a Toyota Sienta that was used by the master-minders,” the police statement reads.

A preliminary autopsy report reveals that they died of suffocation. Police said they were waiting for a full report from pathologists who conducted the autopsy.

However, Kalaya, said police detectives were still investigating the matter to arrest other suspects who were at large.

The other arrested persons are Duncan Kalulu, owner of the Toyota Sienta, David Luhanga and Thomas Gidson.

Tadikira’s lawyer, Gilbert Khonyongwa said, in an interview that his client was arrested because his truck was suspected to have been used to ferry the 30 Ethiopians whose bodies were found buried in the mass grave.

“The driver of the truck was not on permanent employment. He requested my client to be using the truck which was idle and they entered an agreement that he would be giving my client K800 000 every Monday.

“He started using the truck in January, but everywhere he went, my client had no idea. All he was expecting was the payment every Monday. So, the driver could go places and my client had no business with that,” he explained.

Khonyongwa said his client was being kept at Namitete Police Station since Wednesday.

Tadikira handed himself over to National Police Headquarters in Lilongwe on Wednesday after he was informed that he was wanted.

During a media briefing at his residence in Mangochi on November 11, Mutharika expressed shock at government’s silence on the mass grave.

He said Malawians and the international community, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) deserved to know what happened to the immigrants.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson John Kabaghe earlier said they have been in touch with the Ethiopian government on the matter.

Meanwhile, peace and security expert Master Dicks Mfune has called for securitisation measures to deal with illegal immigrants.

He said such measures should include introduction of restrictive border controls to fight terrorism, accompanied by those intended to curb illegal migration flows and to police minorities.

In September, Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services national spokesperson Pasqually Zulu said they had already deported 191 illegal immigrants while 198 were at Mzuzu Prison and another 178 in other areas. There were also three minors at Bvumbwe and another 17 recently intercepted to bring the total to 587.