Chimulirenji seeks court help

Former Ntcheu North East legislator Everton Chimulirenji will have to wait longer to hear the fate of his application for an injunction at the High Court in Lilongwe restraining businessperson Matias Bonongwe from seizing some of this property.

The injunction also seeks to stop Bonongwe from making any statements that may damage Chimulirenji’s reputation.

On Tuesday, Judge Kenyatta Nyirenda heard arguments from both parties in chambers and reserved his ruling to a later date.

Chimulirenji, who between May 2019 and February 2020 served as the country’s vice-president before the cort nullified the May 21 presidential election, sought the court redress after Bonongwe last week Friday deployed some people to confiscate some property at the negated Vice-President’s residence in Chinsapo Township in the outskirts of the capital city.

Bonongwe claims Chimulirenji owes him K100 million for a flopped deal to supply maize to Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), which was allegedly facilitated by Chimulirenji when he was minister of Disaster Management Affairs before the deal was later cancelled.

In an interview after the hearing, lawyer representing Chimulirenji, Oscar Taulo, said the court asked both parties to file soft copies of submissions before the court makes its determination.

Said Taulo: “We cannot certainly say when the ruling will be ready but the court has advised both the claimant and the defendant to provide submissions, and after that the court can make its determination.”

Bonongwe’s lawyer Chris Kam’mayani, in a separate interview, said Chimulirenji’s camp initially indicated that the issue would be settled out of court.

Police arrested four people in connection with a fracas that ensued at Chimulirenji’s residence last Friday.

Lilongwe Police spokesperson Joseph Kachikho said Chimulirenji lodged a complaint at the police station that some people were causing disturbance at his house.