Malawi’s police have jailed a former veteran opposition figure on charges of insulting President Bingu wa Mutharika, who was allegedly called a ”drunk” and a ”brute”, the man’s lawyer said on Wednesday.
”Gwanda Chakuamba surrendered himself to police this morning when he heard that there was a warrant of arrest for him,” lawyer Viva Nyimba said.
Nyimba said he accompanied the politician to a police station where a charge of insulting the president, which carries a R125 fine or a two-year jail sentence under the Emblems Act, was read out.
”Chakuamba was accused of calling Mutharika a drunk and brute at a rally” in the populous township of Ndirande in the commercial capital, Blantyre, during a live radio broadcast.
A veteran opposition figure, Chakuamba ran in the May 2004 elections as a presidential candidate and contested Mutharika’s victory before making an about-turn a few weeks later and joining the government.
He was dropped from the Cabinet a week ago as minister of irrigation and water development and had apparently fallen out with Mutharika after using government funds to buy an expensive German car.
”I am now fighting to have him released on bail,” said Nyimba. — Sapa-AFP