Malawi court charges opposition leader with plotting to kill president

By Jamal Jamal

LILONGWE, Malawi (AA) - Malawi opposition leader Patricia Kaliati was charged Monday with conspiring to kill President Lazarus Chakwera.

Appearing before a magistrate court in Lilongwe, Kaliati, who is secretary general of the United Transformation Movement (UTM) party co-founded by the late Vice President Saulosi Chilima, was arrested last Thursday and has been in police custody since then.

Magistrate Rodrick Michongwe read out the charges before a jampacked courtroom that included party followers and hordes of admirers and sympathizers. But the full details of the “conspiracy plot” were not disclosed.

He then proceeded to grant bail to Kaliati.

Her alleged accomplices, Joseph Odala and Frank Daniel, are said to be on the run.

Kaliati has served as a Cabinet minister since 1994. Since her arrest, pressure has been mounting from a diverse section of the country’s society to have her released immediately and unconditionally.

Some political analysts have described her arrest as “politically motivated.”

Tension is mounting in the country as preparations for the 2025 general elections gather pace.

The UTM had been in a coalition government with the ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of Chakwera since 2020 until three months ago, when it pulled out after the death of Chilima in a plane crash on June 10 this year.