Minister’s PA arrested over Wittika murder
Malawi Police Service has arrested Lester Maganga, personal assistant to Minister of Information and Digitisation Moses Kunkuyu, in connection with the murder of Coca-Cola Beverages Company (Malawi) sales manager Alan Wittika in September.
National Police deputy spokesperson Alfred Chimthere in an interview on Sunday said Maganga is the only suspect arrested so far over the recent murders in Lilongwe City.
However, he could not give more details of the arrest, saying more information will be revealed in court where the suspect is expected to answer murder charges.
Said Chimthere: “The bone of contention is that the suspect was in a relationship with a certain lady. Wittika was also dating that same lady. So the suspect is expected to appear before court here in Lilongwe anytime from tomorrow [today] where we will give more information.”
Wittika’s lifeless body was found dumped in the backseat of his motor vehicle in Area 15 residential estate in Lilongwe on September 20 2023. He was laid to rest at Misesa Cemetery in Blantyre on September 22.
In a separate interview, Wittika’s uncle Willie Zingani, speaking on behalf of the family, said they cannot celebrate Maganga’s arrest because he is currently presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court of law.
He said the autopsy report showed that Wittika was shot by a gun in the head and the family was keen to know who murdered him and what crime he committed.
Zingani, a veteran journalist and writer, said: “Alan is gone, but as parents, we have interest to know what killed our son. What wrong did Alan do to warrant that kind of brutal murder and we can only rely on the police.
“Whether it is this guy, whether this guy will lead them to another arrest, eventually somebody will have to say why he killed Alan. To us, it will be important.”
In a space of five days last month, the country recorded gruesome murder incidents in Lilongwe where Parliament of Malawi employee Michael Thomu, Wittika, Reserve Bank of Malawi’s ICT and network manager Agnes Katengeza and a Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar) fresh graduate Jacob Msokera were murdered.
Soon after the five separate incidents, Kunkuyu stressed that the government would do everything to get to the bottom of these murders.
He noted that loss of life is deeply regrettable and that the circumstances of the recent murders did not define the nature of Malawians.
