Malawi's jailed ex-attorney general in hospital

Malawi’s ex-attorney general Ralph Kasambara, who has called for President Bingu wa Mutharika’s impeachment, has been sent from prison to hospital for a heart condition, according to a lawyer.

“Yes, he is in hospital in Blantyre complaining of heart problems but still being watched by several police officers at his hospital bed,” lawyer Wapona Kita, who is a partner in Kasambara’s law firm, said.

Kasambara was arrested on Monday in Blantyre after he allegedly assaulted three men who tried to petrol bomb his office in what he says was a failed assassination attempt.

Kasambara’s private bodyguards reportedly beat the men, whom he then brought to police in his personal vehicle. He was arrested, but won a court order for his release on Wednesday.

But he was arrested again hours later and taken to a maximum-security prison.

Under watch
Kita said high court judge Godfrey Mwase had granted his colleague a second bail, but that police were ignoring the terms of his release by keeping him under watch at hospital.

Police claim that the bail order was obtained corruptly, because 2 000 judicial workers have been on strike since January 9 to demand better wages.

Malawi Law Society president John Gift Makhwawa said that Kasambara’s imprisonment “is a breakdown of rule of law, this is detention without trial”.

But the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) said it was looking into how Kasambara won the bail order during the strike at the courts.

“The Bureau has been investigating Mr Kasambara on an allegation that he bribes judicial officers,” said its director Alexious Nampota.

Kasambara was arrested after calling for the impeachment or resignation of Mutharika for incompetence and violating the constitution with his failure to resolve the judicial strike.—Sapa-AFP