Hearing of Tadikira,others case starts

The High Court of Malawi in Mzuzu has begun hearing the aggravated manslaughter and trafficking in persons case involving former first lady Gertrude Mutharika’s son, Tadikira Mafubza, and seven others.

During the court sessions yesterday, principal State advocate Jacob Montfort Nambiri began by narrating the nature of the 12 counts that collectively form the two cases being levelled against the accused persons as particularised in their charge sheet.

He said: “The first charge is that of manslaughter. The accused willingly caused the death of persons and buried them in the forest.

“The accused are also charged with trafficking in person’s case whereby they used a white van and an unregistered yellow Toyota Sienta to ferry Ethiopians from Songwe Border Post to Mtangatanga Forest in Mzimba District.”

The State paraded three witnesses who both confirmed having seen the said mass grave and partly witnessed the exhumation process of dead bodies by Mzimba and Chikangawa police officers.

The witnesses include a young man who went hunting in the forest, a chief and one of Mtangatanga Forest advisers.

In an interview, one of the defence lawyers, principal legal aid advocate Kolezi Phiri, said he was, so far,  happy with the pace of the case.

“We are making steady progress because the State has started with parading three witnesses,” he said.

The hearing resumes today when the State is expected to continue with three other witnesses and possible cross-examinations from the defence.

Mafubza and seven others were arrested on November 23 2022 in connection with the mass grave of about 30 bodies of unidentified Ethiopians in Mtangatanga Forest in Mzimba.