Mutharika Administration Under Fire as Five MDF Generals Rush to Court Over Controversial Redeployments
The Mutharika administration is once again on the defensive after five senior Malawi Defence Force (MDF) generals stormed the High Court, seeking an injunction against what they describe as an unlawful and suspicious redeployment to civilian institutions.
The officers—Major General Chikunkha Soko, Major General Saiford Kalisha, Major General Swithan Mchungula, Major General Kakhuta Banda, and Brigadier General Harold Dzoole—filed their challenge through lawyer Allan Chinula, arguing that the State’s decision is not only irregular, but a direct assault on military professionalism and established procedure.
One of the generals, speaking to Zodiak Online, confirmed receiving what he called an unexpected and unsettling redeployment order:
“I can confirm to you that indeed I have received the letter of redeployment to a civilian institution.”
Inside MDF sources paint an even darker picture. Four of the senior officers—Soko, Kalisha, Banda and Dzoole—have been posted as Directors of Security at ADMARC, NOCMA, Water Board, and EGENCO, while Brigadier General Mchungula has been dispatched to ESCOM in the same capacity.
To many observers, the redeployments bear the markings of political interference, stripping the military of its independence and scattering its top brass into parastatals at a time when stability, discipline and strategic leadership are most needed.
With the matter now before the High Court, pressure is intensifying on the Mutharika administration to explain why decorated military leaders are being moved like political pawns—and whether the rule of law still governs decisions at the highest levels of government.
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