While bail is a constitutional right for every suspect regardless nature of crime committed t , in Malawi, bail conditions that are given to the rich and Malawians of Asian origin is ‘too soft’ compared to the of ‘owners’ of the land.
This comes at the background of bail conditions that Senior Resident Magistrate Martin Chipofya has granted to business tycoon Abdul Karim Batawala.
Batawala is accused of being involved in multi-billion fraud and racket cases by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in various cases.
The magistrate has given him a ‘mere’ bail bond of K800,000 in a case which is very high profile that amounts to K3.7 billion.
Two weeks ago, Senior Resident Magistrate, Patrick Chirwa gave a ‘hard bail’ condition of K20,000,000 cash to Thyolo Central Member of Parliament, Ben Phiri in a case he is accused of procurement fraud in relation to his Beata Investment which supplied some items worth K200m to the Ministry of Gender.
Going by the two events, Malawians have discovered in Malawi, foreigners enjoy “too much freedom” than the indigenous.
“All Malawians when going to court go in handcuffed while foreign nationals go without being handcuffed one social media activist decries.”
“Mr IG, this is stupid”, another social activist Nicholas Kachingwe shouted after noticing that Batawala goes is being given with VVIP treatment at the court.
President Lazarus Chakwera promised Malawians that once voted into power he will not go after his opponents but so far signs are clear that the promise was just bait as most DPP gurus are being persecuted on flimsy charges.
Malawi Voice has sampled many social media activists who have described the prevailing situations in the country as pathetic.
