Blantyre: Malawi’s courts on Wednesday charged 12 top government officials and former cabinet ministers with treason for an alleged coup plot last year following the sudden death of former Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika last April.
The charges were confirmed by the Magistrates Court in the capital, Lilongwe, following the release of an official report into Mutharika’s death which alleged that the officials tried to prevent then Vice-President Joyce Banda from becoming president.
An additional charge of inciting mutiny was lodged against Peter Mutharika, the late president’s brother, Chief Secretary to the Government Bright Msaka and Economic Planning and Development Minister Goodall Gondwe, who was Finance Minister in the Mutharika administration. The three allegedly urged Army Commander General Henry Odillo to order “the army to just take over” to prevent Banda from becoming president, according to the inquiry report.
Neither Gondwe nor former Health Minister Jean Kalirani appeared in court because they had collapsed in police cells on Monday night and were taken to hospital. One of the 12, Mutharika’s former legal adviser Allan Ntata, has been in Britain since Mutharika’s death and so did not appear in court.
Eight of the suspects were returned to police cells awaiting bail application on Thursday. Former presidential guard commander Duncan Mwapasa was released on bail.
Hundreds of supporters of the former ruling Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, including former First Lady Callista Mutharika, thronged the Lilongwe court to give their leaders moral support. But there were no incidents of violence as heavily-armed police officers kept a close watch.
George Chaponda, parliamentary leader of the DPP, said the charges are political.
“There are a lot of problems in the country to waste time on this,” he said. “Government is only trying to divert attention from real problems.”
Malawi, one of Africa’s poorest countries, is struggling with high inflation and many people are unhappy with tough economic reforms that are backed by the International Monetary Fund.
Mutharika, who became Malawi’s president in 2004, collapsed in his office and died from cardiac arrest on April 5, 2012. President Banda ordered an official investigation into the events surrounding Mutharika’s death. She received the report last week last week and law enforcement agencies advised her that criminal offences were committed, which led to the treason charges.
The report found that soon after the death of Mutharika, cabinet ministers and senior government officials held a number of secret meetings aimed at preventing then Vice-President Banda from assuming power as stipulated by the constitution.
