Kapondamgaga arrested over Amaryllis Hotel deal

Police on Monday arrested former State Residences chief of staff Prince Kapondamgaga on abuse of office and fraud allegations in the Amaryllis Hotel purchase by the Public Service Pension Trust Fund. His lawyer Donvan Silungwe, in an interview last evening, said the arrest relates to the controversial K128 billion hotel deal. He said: “Police are alleging misuse of public office, fraud other than false pretence and money laundering related to the Amaryllis deal.

“When we asked them to provide particulars, they said they cannot. So, they [the charges] are just in general terms.” National Police spokesperson Lael Chimtembo last evening briefly confirmed the arrest, and said “other details to follow”. Kapondamgaga’s arrest came after the Mkukula Magistrate’s Court in Lumbadzi, Dowa issued a stay order and cancelled his arrest on Monday morning.

The order was served to the police at 10.45am, according to a copy The Nation has seen. Malawi Police head of prosecutions Prescot Mwayiulipo received and signed for the court order. Reads the stay order: “That the application for cancellation of the warrant of arrest herein be and is hereby restored.

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“That the intended arrest of Prince Kapondamgaga pursuant to the warrant issued by this Court, or pursuant to any other warrant, or his arrest without warrant, BE and is hereby suspended pending hearing of inter-partes application for the cancellation of the said warrants, or pending application for determination of the legality of the intended arrest of the Applicant without a warrant.” On why Kapondamgaga was still arrested despite the order, Silungwe said police told him that they found the order irregular; hence, they disregarded it. He said: “If you look at the order, instead of sitting at Mkukula, it said sitting at Lilongwe, they picked on that. But even if the order is irregular, we all know that they still have to comply.

“So, we are amending the order as I speak, and have it signed. We will see if they will comply even after the amendment.” Weighing in on the arrest despite the stay order, private practice lawyer Benedicto Kondowe said while the police have constitutional and statutory powers to investigate and prosecute suspected offenders, those powers should be exercised within the confines of the law and with full respect for court orders. “The settled principle is that a court order must be obeyed unless and until it is set aside by a competent court, regardless of any perceived defects or irregularities in the order itself,” he said.

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