Court grants bail to DPP pangamen, search warrant issued for Ngalande
The Blantyre Magistrates Court on Thursday morning granted bail to two DPP youth cadets who were arrested in connection to the 19 July 2011 incident in which they went around town blandishing machetes.
The two Frank Julius and Yakobu Ambasada were arrested on Wednesday during the trial of their director Lewis Ngalande who had been granted bail by the same court.
Ngalande, Ambasada and Julius are being charged with two counts of action likely to cause breach of peace and intent to cause violence and well as obstruction of traffic contrary to the country’s penal code.
In Court
Lawyer representing the three, Kalekeni Kaphale, while making a bail application for Julius and Ambasada, wondered why the State was asking for more time to investigate the matter.
Kaphale wondered why the State rushed into arresting the three in an alleged offence that was committed last year before instituting the investigations.
However, the State did not object to the bail application for Ambasada and Julius and only asked for the court to apply bail conditions similar to the ones that were granted to Ngalande.
Senior Resident Magistrate Innocent Nebi then granted bail to the two after they paid K30, 000 each as bail bond and provided two sureties.
The court session was witnessed by several DPP supporters and sympathizers. Julius is director of youth cadet at district level while Ngalande is director at regional level , Ambasada is an executive member.
Search Warrant
Meanwhile, the court has granted a warrant of search to Police to enable the officers search Ngalande’s house.
It is currently not known when will the search be conducted but as of Thursday morning the police was running and down to execute the warrant.
Ngalande is being accused of leading DPP youth cadets in the party’s branded pick-up vehicles who brandished pangas on the streets of Blantyre, warning to deal with then president Bingu wa Mutharika’s critics.
The panga wielding thugs were singing their war chants ‘Onyoza Bingu lero sagona timpweteka!’ (Anyone despising Bingu will not sleep today, we will hurt him)!
Noel Masangwi, DPP regional governor (South) , is on record to have confessed that the panga-wielding youth were DPP cadres.
Masangwi told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the July 20 events that the youth were meeting at the DPP regional offices in Sunnyside and took the pangas belonging to security guards at the premises but that the party region office keep their machetes.
Ngalande- who is reported to have masterminded a lot of atrocities during the DPP regime – will also face charges for the assault of Thyolo North parliamentarian Anita Kalinde .
Kalinde was assaulted at a public function where late President Mutharika was present.
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