Chakwera’s lawyer robbed
Unknown assailants on Wednesday night broke into the house of Pempho Likongwe, one of the lawyers representing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera in the elections case, and stole his laptop, mobile phones and court documents.
In an interview yesterday, National Police spokesperson James Kadadzera said police recovered a briefcase and some documents, but they did not know if the documents were all in the briefcase.
“It is true that the lawyer was attacked [at his home in Area 43] and he reported the case at Lingadzi Police Station [in Area 18] and his phones, laptop and briefcase containing court documents were lost.
“But our officers have found some of the documents. I can’t tell you where, but just know that the documents have been surrendered to the owner. We are still investigating the matter to trace the assailants.”
Larry Nita, another lawyer representing Chakwera, suspected foul play. He observed that it was strange that the assailants only targeted Likongwe’s phones, laptop and court documents.
He said: “He was about to retire to bed at around 11pm when unknown people broke into his house in Area 43 and snatched the phones, court documents and laptop from him. He tried to fight with them and in the process sustained some injuries.”
In a separate interview, MCP secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka described the incident as “an arranged plot to deter justice and frustrate MCP lawyers”, but refused to directly link the incident to the ongoing court case where Chakwera and UTM president Saulos Chilima are seeking nullification of the presidential elections results in the May 21 2019 Tripartite Elections. Chancellor College political analyst Ernest Thindwa said the fact that the people only got away with elections court documents suggests they had ulterior move.
