Legal and human rights pundits yesterday expressed concern over High Court Judge Mzondi Mvula’s delay to rule on Malawi Congress Party (MCP) secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda’s bail application, raising questions about judicial efficiency.
It is now at least 21 days after hearing of his bail application and 33 days since surrendering himself to police, but Chimwendo Banda remains in custody awaiting bail ruling.
Judge Mvula heard the bail application on December 24 2025 in Lilongwe after receiving submissions from both the State and defence and promised to deliver the ruling via email. But three weeks later, the judge has not yet issued the ruling.
In a brief response yesterday, Judiciary spokesperson Ruth Mputeni said “there is no new development yet” on the delivery of the bail ruling for Chimwendo Banda.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) chairperson Robert Mkwezalamba yesterday said a prolonged delay in delivering a bail ruling, particularly where the court itself indicated a specific mode of delivery, raises legitimate concerns about procedural fairness and judicial efficiency.
“Bail is an interlocutory matter directly affecting personal liberty and it ought to be determined with reasonable promptness.
“While courts are independent and manage heavy caseloads, delays of this nature risk creating uncertainty and may inadvertently undermine confidence in due process, especially where the accused remains in custody and has not yet been formally charged, as is the case with Chimwendo Banda,” he said.
Mkwezalamba said such delays erode public confidence in the justice system, create perceptions of inconsistency or unfairness and disproportionately affect vulnerable accused persons who may lack the means to pursue repeated legal remedies.
While admitting that Malawian laws do not prescribe a fixed statutory time-frame within which a bail ruling must be delivered, constitutional principles, particularly the right to personal liberty and access to justice, require that such applications be determined within a reasonable time.
A private practice lawyer, who opted for anonymity, said under the Republican Constitution, every person who has not been convicted of an offence is presumed innocent until proven guilty before a court of law.
“From my experience, this is the first time in our jurisdiction that a bail ruling has taken three weeks before being delivered. Yet a bail ruling is the simplest to draft, some judges even draft a one-page ruling for bail,” argued the counsel.
The counsel cited Chimwendio Banda’s application to the Supreme Court last week where Justice of Appeal Dorothy NyaKaunda Kamanga delivered her five-page ruling the same day the case was heard.
At the Supreme Court, Justice NyaKaunda Kamanga dismissed Chimwendo Banda’s application challenging his 90-day remand warrant.
In her ruling, she said the Supreme Court lacked jurisdiction because there was no competent appeal.
Chimwendo Banda’s lawyer George Jivason Kadzipatike yesterday said he has been refreshing his mail inbox, including the spam box now and again, but the email from Judge Mvula is yet to pop up.
The former Leader of the House is accused of attempting to murder Frank Chawanda in February 2021 and has been on remand at Maula Prison in Lilongwe since December 29 2025 after being discharged from hospital.
