The Mkukula Magistrate’s Court in Lumbadzi, Dowa, yesterday heard the applicants and State submissions in a case where former Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba is challenging two fresh warrants of arrest.
Presiding magistrate Kondani Chinangwa yesterday adjourned the case to Friday, April 10, for a ruling on the application.
Zamba. | Nation
During hearing, lawyer representing Zamba, George Kadzipatike told the court that his client has already been arrested twice and is currently on bail whose conditions she has not breached.
He said: “Executing the two warrants of arrest when Zamba can present herself for any investigations will only serve as pre-trial victimisation and punishment.
“Section 84 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code provides that the court can issue a summons to the accused person. This is a proper case which must be commenced by way of summons rather than arrest.”
But in response, State lawyer Prescott Mwayiulipo objected to the application, arguing that the warrants do not exist because the defence did not submit them in court.
He further said the defence had failed to specify the law enforcement agency that obtained the purported warrants, whether the Malawi Police Service or the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
However, Kadzipatike said the State should be candid, saying: “You cannot come to the court that issued the warrants of arrest and deny their existence.”
He also claimed that his attempt to obtain copies of the warrants of arrest did not succeed because a court clerk indicated that the police officer who secured the warrants had taken all copies to allegedly to prevent them from leaking before execution.
Zamba is already facing two separate cases before the Lilongwe Magistrates’ Court.
The former top civil servant was first arrested on December 3 2025 at Kamuzu International Airport for allegedly recruiting about 300 people into the public service without following laid-down procedures. She is currently on bail in that matter.
In February 2026, she was again arrested alongside former minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale and former minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe for conspiracy to commit a crime and abuse of office and were later granted bail.
In the latest matter, the State seeks to arrest Zamba on allegations of money laundering and abuse of office linked to the controversial sale of Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre.
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee opened a public inquiry into the K128.7 billion transaction in March 2026, in which the Public Service Pension Trust Fund purchased the hotel from Yusuf Investments Limited.
