Kamangila fights defamation judgment amid bias claims

A Malawian social media firebrand lawyer has accused the High Court of bias over its handling of a defamation case brought against him by a sitting judge, warning that the matter must be dealt with so that “justice is not only done but seen to be done”.

Alexious Kamangila, a private practice lawyer, made the allegation in a letter dated July 30 to Justice Howard Pemba, who is presiding over the case brought by Justice Kenan Manda.

In the letter, Kamangila claims the court dealt swiftly with an ex parte application filed by Justice Manda, yet has failed to set a hearing date for his own application to have that order set aside.

“This Court has behaved differently as regards to the processing of documents filed by the parties,” Kamangila wrote.

Justice Manda brought the defamation claim in 2024 over public statements and Facebook posts in which Kamangila alleged judicial corruption involving senior members of the judiciary.

In May this year, Justice Pemba granted an ex parte application by Justice Manda striking out Kamangila’s statement of defence and entering judgment in the judge’s favour.

Kamangila, who says he was never properly served with the court papers and was out of the country when the order was made, applied on July 13 to have the judgment set aside.

More than two weeks on, no hearing date has been fixed — a delay he argues raises troubling questions given the parties involved.

“The fact that the Claimant in this matter is a Senior Judge… who is related to the Chief Justice and is a close friend of the Deputy Chief Justice, raises serious concerns of influence,” he wrote.

In his skeleton arguments, Kamangila contends that he was never lawfully served, that the ex parte order was granted without his being heard, and that entering judgment in a defamation claim without trial runs contrary to both the Civil Procedure Rules and the Constitution.

The case, Civil Cause Number 141 of 2024, remains before the High Court’s Civil Division in Lilongwe.

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