Stepson of former Malawi president Peter Mutharika acquitted for lack of evidence

Mafubza was accused of human trafficking and aggravated homicide

June 20 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Tadikira Mafubza, stepson of the former president of Malawi Peter Mutharika (2014-2020), has been acquitted due to lack of evidence in a case in which his alleged involvement in the discovery of a mass grave in the north of the country was investigated, an investigation in which who was accused of human trafficking and aggravated homicide.

The judge of the High Court, Gladys Gondwe, has acquitted Mafubza and the other seven suspicious people who had been detained along with the stepson of the former president, considering that the State has not presented sufficient evidence, as reported by the news portal Malawi 24.

Gondwe has also ordered the State to return to their rightful owners the vehicles seized on suspicion of having been used to transport the victims. For his part, the defense lawyer, Gilbert Khonyongya, has expressed his satisfaction with the verdict.

Mafubza was arrested in November 2022 along with seven other people after police said they had “solid evidence” linking him to the deaths of 29 Ethiopian migrants whose bodies were found in a mass grave within the Mtangatanga Forest Reserve. in Mzimba.

The suspect came to surrender at one of the barracks in the capital, Lilongwe, after several days of searching for him. The political formation of the former president, Democratic Progressive Party (PPD), encompassed what happened in a particular witch hunt against him and his family that the country’s new ruling elites were carrying out.

In recent years, Malawi has been a transit scene for irregular migration destined for South Africa, the United States and Europe.