Tadikira court appearance January 11

The High Court of Malawi has set January 11 for hearing of a bail application for Tadikira Mafubza, son to former president Peter Mutharika, arrested in connection with a mass grave discovered in a forest in Mzimba District.

Tadikira and four others will appear before the High Court in Mzuzu after the Lilongwe Magistrate’s Court committed their case to the upper court.

Both Tadikira’s lawyer Gilbert Nkhonyongwa and registrar of the High Court of Malawi Mzuzu registry Kondwani Banda have confirmed the development in separate interviews.

Banda said the case will be heard by High Court Judge Gladys Gondwe.

The suspects have been on remand at Maula Prison in Lilongwe since November 23 2022 and face murder and human trafficking charges.

The charges are allegedly connected with the mass grave in Mtangatanga Forest Reserve which contained 30 bodies of people believed to be Ethiopian immigrants.

The bail application hearing comes over a month after Llongwe chief resident magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza committed the case to the High Court in Mzuzu.

Tadikira is answering the charges alongside four other suspects, namely David Luhanga, Thomas Gidson, Samuel Navaya and Duncan Kalulu.