Govt, police commissioners discuss out-of-court deal

Attorney General (AG) Frank Mbeta has engaged lawyers representing four reassigned police commissioners to find an out-of-court settlement in their redeployment dispute. The AG said in an interview yesterday that the four commissioners—Christopher Katani, Rhoda Manjolo, Emmanuel Soko and Chikondi Chingadza—through their lawyer Khumbo Soko made the proposal when the matter came before High Court of Malawi Judge William Msiska in Lilongwe on Friday. “They [commissioners] made a proposal to us and the proposal is being considered.

In their proposal we will look at what they are saying. In a separate interview, Soko yesterday confirmed that the matter came before the High Court in Lilongwe, but declined to provide details of what had necessitated the move toward an out-of-court settlement. “Yes, we appeared before the court on Friday and the matter was adjourned to allow the two parties to discuss.

However, we cannot begin discussing the details of the matter with the media at this stage,” he said. The judge on Friday adjourned the case to March 25 2026 when the parties are expected to update the court on the outcome of the discussions and seek further directions. The commissioners obtained an injunction after receiving redeployment letters dated February 3 2026 assigning them to positions that allegedly did not have clearly defined operational duties. They, thus, sought a judicial intervention.