Family hopes JB-Chanthunya link will not affect justice

Family of murdered Zimbabwean lady Linda Gasa has said it is praying that the relationship between Misonzi Chanthunya and President Joyce Banda would not affect the process to have the suspect tried for murder.

The murder suspect, who is currently in South Africa awaiting a court process to extradite him to Malawi, is related to Banda through marriages.

However, in an interview on Monday, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ralph Kasambara assured the family that once the case starts, the prosecution will be done in an independent manner.

In an interview after an extradition hearing on Wednesday in a South African court, late Gasa’s uncle, Cuthbert Kachale, expressed concerns that just like everybody else, the family has been kept in the dark on the progress of the case and the extradition process.

 “However, if he lands on the Malawi soil, I trust that the new government will set aside any family connection and let the wheels of justice roll,” he said in an e-mail response to a questionnaire.

Kachale, however, said as a family at this stage of the case they appreciate that it is a government-to-government affair where the family has no much influence.

But said Kasambara: “We do prosecution in a very independent manner through the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). If the office of the President has any interest in the matter, those interests will not affect prosecution.”

Kasambara said if the family so wishes it can do their own private prosecution.

Chanthunya, who is suspected of murdering his girlfriend Gasa in August 2010, was captured in Rustenburg, South Africa in January this year after being on the run for almost 17 months.

The Rustenburg Court in South Africa on Wednesday reserved its ruling on whether to extradite him to Malawi.

The court is expected to deliver its judgement on July 2, according to Ministry of Justice spokesperson Apoche Itimu.