Katengeza murder trial: Best friend of accused tells court he lived with him before shock arrest
A close friend of one of the men accused of murdering Agnes Katengeza has told the court he was living with the suspect at the time of his dramatic arrest — and revealed the chilling phone calls that broke the news.
Frank Mathyola, 30, took to the witness stand as the second state witness in the high-profile trial, telling the court he had been friends with first accused Amos Katengeza since 2014.
The pair, he said, had once shared a home together in Nyambadwe, Blantyre, in the period before Katengeza’s arrest — a detail that places the witness at the very heart of the accused’s daily life.
Mathyola told the court that Amos had been involved in the buying and reselling of mobile phones, and had harboured ambitions of one day opening his own phone shop.
But the witness’s testimony took a darker turn as he described the moment he learned his friend had been arrested.
Mathyola said he was in Neno, some distance from Blantyre, when he received a phone call out of the blue from a neighbour, who broke the news that Amos had been taken into custody.
Moments later, in a chilling twist, the witness said he received a second call — this time from a police officer at Nyambadwe Police Station — who confirmed that the arrest had indeed taken place.
According to Mathyola, officers told him at the time that Amos had been detained in connection with the alleged murder of his own relative, Agnes Katengeza — a revelation the witness said left him stunned.
During his evidence, Mathyola was shown a laptop and an iPad presented to the court, both of which he identified as belonging to Amos and which the accused had kept in his possession while the two men were living together.
The devices are understood to form part of the wider evidence being examined by the prosecution as the trial continues to unfold.
The court has since adjourned proceedings until 2:00pm this afternoon, when further evidence is expected to be heard.
The trial forms part of a high-profile case that has gripped the nation, with Katengeza’s death continuing to raise unanswered questions.