Malawi Police arrests suspect in Njaunju murder

Malawi Police have arrested and charged Frank John with murder offence relating to the senseless killing of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director of corporate services Issa Njauju.

Police spokeswoman Rhoda Manjolo confirmed the arrest of the suspect and that he is on remand at Maula Prison.

However, she could not disclose more information on the suspect and the investigations that led to his arrest, saying “its not for public consumption.”

Police arrested John because he allegedly was found with the deceased phone.

Critics say Police are ignoring the larger picture because of political pressure as ACB boss was reportedly killed by a “state-sponsored” mafia-style attack.

Njauju was brutally murdered and his body thrown aside presidential villas along presidential drive in the capital city’s Area 44 on July 2 2015.

His official car a Toyota Hilux D4D double cabin was burnt down to ashes.

Post-mortem results showed that Njauju was shot twice in the neck and chest before he was buried near Lilongwe River.

Justin Dzonzi who is Executive Director for Justice Link faulted the police for failure to show professional handling of the crime scene involving the high profile ACB official.

“When a gun is fired you would find shell casings where the shots were fired and if you assume that the person who shot might have been in the car it is then possible that you can find evidence in the car so on and so forth.

“Now if that car has been disturbed before the investigating team has had time to investigate then they may lose all certain clues that may lead them to certain conclusions’, said Dzonzi.

He explained that If at the investigation level the police have not been able to establish what exactly happened even if some individuals were to be arrested it becomes extremely difficult for prosecutors to prove in court that indeed those individuals are connected to the crime that took place.

Dzonzi said this is because investigators will have failed to gather sufficient evidence with which to convict suspects.

“Remember that in court its evidence that speaks volume, it’s not just mere allegation so you will need to arm yourself with sufficient factual information that would then show what actually happened.

“So the disturbance of the crime scene would affect both investigations and subsequent prosecution if it were to take place”, said Dzonzi.

Police said initial investigations indicated cashgate – probe into systematic plunder of public resources – could be the reason to Njaunju’s savage murder.

Envoys from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, the European Union, Norway and Ireland called for speedy investigations and warned that intimidation and bribery should not been used to deter ACB from pursuing those denying the country its much-needed resources through corruption.