Chimwendo Banda Takes the Fight to the Highest Court, Vows No Surrender in Battle for Justice
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Secretary General Richard Chimwendo Banda has launched an all-out legal offensive against what his lawyers describe as blatant abuse of state power, filing an urgent appeal in the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal to challenge a controversial 90-day remand warrant that has kept him behind bars.
In a move that signals defiance rather than despair, Chimwendo Banda has asked the country’s highest court to stay or suspend the remand warrant issued on December 15, 2025, by the Chief Resident Magistrate Court in Lilongwe—an order his legal team insists is unlawful, punitive, and unsupported by evidence.
The appeal will be heard on January 9, 2026, before Justice of Appeal Dorothy Nyakaunda Kamanga, marking the beginning of a high-stakes legal showdown between the embattled former cabinet minister and the State.
Judiciary spokesperson Ruth Mputeni confirmed that Chimwendo Banda, who remains incarcerated at Maula Prison, is seeking immediate relief from continued detention through the Supreme Court of Appeal, while simultaneously pursuing bail in the High Court.
“This is about stopping an unlawful warrant,” Mputeni said, adding that the Supreme Court will conduct an inter-partes hearing on the matter.
At the same time, Chimwendo Banda is awaiting a separate ruling from High Court Judge Justice Mzonde Mvula, who heard his bail application on December 24, 2025. That decision remains pending.
His lawyer, George Jivason Kadzipatike, made it clear that the legal strategy is deliberate, aggressive, and uncompromising.
“These are two independent applications,” Kadzipatike said. “One is before the High Court on bail. The other is before the Supreme Court of Appeal to stay the remand warrant. Both are aimed at one thing: ending unlawful detention.”
Kadzipatike did not mince words, accusing the State of holding Chimwendo Banda without evidence.
“What we want is the quickest release of Honourable Chimwendo from unlawful detention,” he said. “He is innocent. To date, the State has not produced a single piece of evidence linking him to the allegation of attempted murder. Not one.”
He added: “A minute in unlawful detention is too long. If the High Court rules in our favour, there will be no need to proceed with the Supreme Court application.”
The case has ignited national debate, with critics arguing that the prolonged remand of a senior political figure without trial or disclosed evidence raises serious questions about selective justice, abuse of prosecutorial power, and the weaponisation of the criminal justice system.
By storming the Supreme Court of Appeal while keeping pressure on the High Court, Chimwendo Banda has made one thing clear: he is not waiting quietly in a prison cell. He is fighting—relentlessly, legally, and publicly—for his freedom, his name, and what he insists is nothing less than justice.
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