Kasambara ‘critical’ in hospital: Cardiac condition

Prominent lawyer Ralph Kasambara has been moved from jail to a hospital, where he is being treated under police guard for a heart ailment.

Kasambara was remanded to prison on Wednesday after Justice Michael Mtambo ruled that his bail must be revoked because there was evidence that he infringed on the privacy of the judges, hence he did not comply with bail conditions.

He is a suspect in the shooting of former budget director, Paul Mphwiyo who survived assassination attempt in 2013.

The lawyer was put behind bars at Maula Prison and transferred on Thursday to Zomba Maximum Prison.

Kasambara, a prominent lawyer with a rock star status in Malawi, had a scheduled appointment for his heart problem on Thursday, hence he asked judge not to send him to prison before the crucial check up.

His condition worsened on Friday and prison authorities took him to Mwaiwathu Hospital in Blantyre but he was referred to Adventist Hospital where they have a heart specialist.

Despite being guarded, Kasambara’s wife is paying a vigil at her husband’s bedside as his health condition is now “critical”, according to doctors at the facility.

He is reported to have developed a “serious cardiac condition.”

The lawyer is currently in Intensive Care Unit.

This is the second time for Kasambara to suffer serious ailment after an arrest.

He also suffered a similar condition when he was arrested during the DPP regime under late president Bingu wa Mutharika. Kasambara was accused of kidnapping and torturing three men he told reporters had confessed they had been sent by the DPP government to firebomb his office.

Kasambara’s arrest came after he was quoted in the media saying President Mutharika “wants to be a dictator” and should be impeached.

Appeal

Meanwhile, Kasambara has appealed for a stay on the bail revocation and also on the ruling itself while his co-accuse Macdonald Kumwembe has appealed against the contempt of court sentence and the conviction.

In his initial response to the appeals, Supreme Judge Lovemore Chikopa found the applications imprudent as the applicants had not given any proof that the matter had been appealed in the lower court.

“I find the application imprudent, that such an application has come to this court before the lower courts. I am, therefore, inclined they be served as interparty. I reserve 30th September as the day of the ruling,” reads the response in part.

Furthermore, Chikopa wrote that he found the applications peculiar as they had landed on his desk beyond normal working hours and quite late in the day.

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