By The Forum

Malawi’s former Minister of Homeland Security, Ezekiel Ching’oma, has been arrested, prompting the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to call on the government to “respect the rule of law.”

Ching’oma was arrested on Thursday and taken to Lumbadzi Police Station in Lilongwe for questioning.

His lawyer, Jefferson Luwa, said the former Lilongwe East legislator was picked up from his home in the capital early in the morning. Luwa said police did not inform his client of the reason for the arrest.

Ching’oma’s arrest comes weeks after three other former senior MCP officials were arrested on different charges. Those arrested in December 2025 — MCP Secretary General Richard Chimwendo Banda, presidential running mate Vitumbiko Mumba and MCP Publicity Secretary Jessie Kabwila — are currently out on bail.

Chimwendo Banda is accused of the attempted murder of Frank Chawanda in February 2021, while Mumba and Kabwila are accused of addressing a press conference in which they allegedly made claims of electoral fraud against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) before the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) announced the September 16 general election results.

Reacting to the latest arrest, MCP said the government was acting outside the law.

“Let me respectfully ask that you respect the rule of law,” Kabwila told reporters on Thursday. “Respect our courts, respect the judiciary. We didn’t keep quiet because we didn’t know how to react. We chose that path to make sure we respect the rule of law.”

Kabwila’s remarks followed claims by Chimwendo Banda’s lawyer, George Jivason Kadzipatike, that police were planning to re-arrest his client.

“We have to trust the process. Now, if we have chosen to trust the process, please don’t abuse this. The courts have ordered that Richard Chimwendo Banda should be freed from prison and should not be rearrested. Respect that,” she said.

Kabwila condemned Ching’oma’s arrest, alleging, without providing evidence, that it was politically motivated.

Chimwendo Banda was released on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, following a ruling by Justice Kenyatta Nyirenda in the Civil Division of the High Court. The release followed a judicial review application challenging his continued detention beyond the 30-day period allowed under the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code before committing a suspect to the High Court for trial.

In his ruling, Justice Nyirenda granted leave for judicial review and issued interim relief staying the remand warrant issued by the Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe on December 15, 2025. He ordered Chimwendo Banda’s immediate release.

The decision surprised many, as another High Court judge, Mzondi Mvula — he heard Chimwendo Banda’s bail application — has yet to deliver his ruling, which he indicated would be made on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

Judge Mvula’s notice followed a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Blantyre last Friday, in which Justice Dorothy Nyakaunda Kamanga dismissed Chimwendo Banda’s application challenging his prison remand and seeking to suspend execution of the remand warrant pending appeal.

“This Court has determined that it lacks jurisdiction because there was no competent appeal. Jurisdiction is a substantive legal cornerstone, not a mere technicality,” Nyakaunda Kamanga said.

She further explained that criminal appellate jurisdiction is limited to final decisions of the High Court, and that the remand warrant in question was provisional and did not determine the ultimate rights of the parties. The judge added that stays or suspensions of execution apply to final judgments or sentences, not to remand warrants.

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