No bail for Magalasi: ‘Flight risk’

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) strategist and former energy baron Collins Magalasi will spend more sleepless nights behind bars after a court slammed the door shut on his bid for freedom.

Theformer Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) boss looked visibly shaken as Chief Resident Magistrate Austin Banda ruled he must remain locked up in a police cell pending trial.

Magalasi is at the center of a jaw-dropping national security scandal—alleged to have bought a laptop and hired an IT specialist to illegally hack the personal cell phones of President Peter Mutharika and top cabinet ministers.

​”The State is bringing charges piecemeal purely to keep my client locked up.”— Andy Kawonga, Defense Counsel

​Delivering the high-stakes ruling, the magistrate sided with state prosecutors, who argued that Magalasi’s vast wealth and high-level political connections made him a major risk of flight and witness tampering if set free.

Cybercrime officers warned the court they need more time to analyze seized electronic gadgets, cautioning that Magalasi was capable of hiring further tech experts to tamper with digital evidence if granted bail.

The decision comes despite a fiery defense from lawyer Andy Kawonga, who slammed a heavily armed 35-officer police raid on Magalasi’s residence as a high-handed dragnet designed to keep him in custody.

​Magalasi’s legal woes expanded dramatically when Senior Resident Magistrate Shukran Kumbani read out five fresh counts against him—detailing a staggering trail of financial crime.

He is accused of acting dishonestly with co-

conspirators between March 2024 and October 2025 to defraud the Public Service Pension Trust Fund in connection with the controversial Amaryllis Hotel acquisition.

Prosecutors further allege he directly stole cash belonging to the public pension fund and laundered billions under the Financial Crimes Act.