Police trash ‘attempted attack on Kasambara’
The police in the Northen Region have trashed allegations of an attempt on Ralph Kasambara’s life after a man was apprehended near the former minister’s residence in Mzuzu on Thursday night.
Northern Region Police spokesperson Norah Chimwala was reacting to online reports that on Thursday Kasambara’s bodyguards arrested thugs in a midnight attempt to break into his house at Chimaliro Township amid Nyasa Times’ allegation that a high-level meeting of government officials resolved that the only way to silence the recently fired minister was “by elimination”.
The alleged security scare comes just four days after the Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday granted Kasambara bail following his arrest in connection with the shooting of budget director Paul Mphwiyo two months ago.
In a statement, Chimwala said three of Kasambara’s security aides reported to Mzuzu Police Station that they caught and interrogated a man suspected of posing a security threat to the former minister.
However, she said the suspected thug was actually Joseph Mhone, a driver of a Toyota Starlet registration MHG 2673 which was stuck in the low-density area after running out of petrol after dropping passengers at Biya Trading Centre along Mzuzu-Usisya Road.
“Upon seeing the vehicle, Kasambara’s bodyguards apprehended the suspect, interrogated him and reported the matter to their boss. So, the three came to Mzuzu Police Station around midnight. The police went there together with the complainants and found that it was really true that the vehicle ran out of fuel,” she said.
Chimwala said the car needed two litres of fuel from Mphasa Filling Station to move and no arrests were made.
But confirming what he termed a security threat, Kasambara said there were a lot of inconsistencies in the statements of the police and the driver.
He said: “When asked about the ownership of the vehicle, the police couldn’t come out clearly.
“Besides, Thursday is no market day at Biya. So, where was the driver dropping people? What was he doing near my house, which is not along the road, when the car ran out of fuel?”
