Malawi Police allow Tanzanian suspect to freely flee
Police in the Malawi’s northern region lake shore district of Karonga on Saturday allowed a female suspect flee from custody after she was allowed to go and buy credit for her phone at Karonga Boma, Nyasa Times can reveal.
According to Karonga Police Station Officer-In-Charge Tereza Nankhuni, the female suspect Jane Mwayikera of Mbeya district in Tanzania requested the Police to go to the trading center to purchase airtime for her phone but never returned.
“She was detained on Friday alongside two Tanzanian national drivers, Farid Muhammed (29) from Mbeya and Nehenia Daniel (35) from Moshi for being suspected of transporting stolen items including wire cables and metals belonging to Malawi Telecommunication Limited (MTL), Escom and one of the Water Boards,” she said.
Nankhuni defended her fellow Police officers that when they detained the suspects on Friday together with the trucks that were carrying the stolen items, they did not put the three in custody as they were waiting for MRA officials to arrive the following day so that they may open the vans.
“The vehicles and the three were detained at Luwesya in Mwenelondo are after the Police received a tip that they were carrying stolen items. They were all taken to Karonga Police Station but we could not put the three in custody until after opening the vans in the presence of MRA officials,” she said.
She said, as they waited for Saturday, the suspects were allowed to go to the market have their meals and returned to Police willingly.
“However, on Saturday morning, the woman who we suspect to be a key player in this illegal business transaction asked the Police to be allowed to go to the trading centre and buy airtime, when she was allowed, she never returned,” said Nankhuni.
She said the Police have since mounted an intensive search looking for this woman who has been selling these cables across the border in Tanzania.
The Police have since announced that the two remaining Tanzanian citizens will be taken to court and answer charges of being found in possession of property suspected to have been stolen.
This is not the first time that Malawian Police headed bu Peter Mukhito have shown laxity in their work by allowing suspects to easily bolt from custody.
Last year, Police in Blantyre allowed a murder suspect Misozi Chanthunya to slip through their hands and fly into safety after the gruesome murder of his girlfriend at a family cottage in the southern region lake shore district of Mangochi.
The murder suspect Chanthunya still remains at large almost a year after the incident.
Meanwhile, First Grade Magistrate George Longwe of Karonga has since ordered that the two Tanzanian truck drivers be on remand to pave way for further investigations after the request of prosecutor Sub Inspector Peter Pilingu.
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