Former Minister of Information and Digitisation and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Director of Campaign, Moses Kunkuyu, has been formally arrested and charged with inciting violence, deepening the post-election crackdown on senior opposition figures as police admit uncertainty over when he will even be taken to court.
In police hands: Kunkuyu
Kunkuyu is currently being held at Kanengo Police Station after presenting himself to police earlier today, only to be placed under arrest and transferred from Area 30 Police Station. His arrest centres on remarks he allegedly made during the funeral of former First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Madalitso Kazombo—remarks police say amount to proposing or inciting violence.
National Police Service spokesperson Lael Chimtembo confirmed Kunkuyu’s detention but conceded that the police have no clear timeline on when the former minister will be brought before a court of law.
“All I can say is that he is at Kanengo Police Station now, but as to when he will be taken to court, I’m not sure,” Chimtembo said.
That admission has fuelled concern over due process, especially as Kunkuyu’s legal team insists the arrest itself is unlawful.
According to his lawyer, George Jivason Kadzipatike, Kunkuyu voluntarily surrendered after learning that police were looking for him and had visited his homes in both Lilongwe and Blantyre. Instead of being summoned or formally notified, Kadzipatike said, police moved to hunt him down—an approach he described as heavy-handed and unnecessary.
“He is under arrest,” Kadzipatike confirmed. “He has been charged with inciting violence and has now been sent to Kanengo Police Station.”
Kadzipatike sharply questioned the legality of the arrest, arguing that Kunkuyu, as a sitting Member of Parliament, enjoys immunity from arrest while Parliament or its committees are in session. He noted that Kunkuyu is a member of Parliament’s International Relations Committee, which is currently meeting.
“The police have ignored our argument that Hon Kunkuyu is immune from arrest because his committee is in session,” Kadzipatike said. “When he reported to the police this morning, he was actually en route to Parliament.”
The police have not publicly addressed the immunity argument, nor explained why Kunkuyu could not have been formally summoned to court rather than detained with no clear appearance date.
Kunkuyu’s arrest makes him the fifth senior MCP official to be arrested since the party was ousted from government in the September 16 general elections, a pattern that is increasingly being read as a targeted campaign rather than isolated law enforcement actions.
As of publication, the Malawi Congress Party had not issued an official response. Party spokesperson Jessy Kabwila said she was yet to comment on the matter.
With police unable to say when Kunkuyu will be taken to court, and with serious legal questions hanging over the arrest itself, the case has already become more than a criminal charge. It has turned into a test of political tolerance, parliamentary privilege, and the integrity of Malawi’s criminal justice system in the tense aftermath of electoral defeat.
