Mumba, Kabwila plead not guilty

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) September 2025 General Election presidential running mate Vitumbiko Mumba and the party’s publicity secretary Jessie Kabwila yesterday pleaded not guilty to a charge of publishing a false statement likely to cause public alarm. The two are accused of electoral fraud by the then opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the election before the official announcement of the results. Mumba and Kabwila appeared before the Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court for plea taking.

Following the plea, State lawyer Festas Sakanda asked the court for an adjournment to arrange witnesses. “The State would be able to provide the list of witnesses within 48 hours. We therefore pray that the matter be adjourned to a later date,” he said.

On his part, defence lawyer George Kadzipatike also asked the court to adjourn the matter to a date after the current sitting of Parliament to enable Mumba, who is a member of Parliament, attend parliamentary business. He informed the court that Parliament will rise on April 10. Senior resident magistrate Bracious Kondowe said it would be proper to adjourn the matter to a date after Parliament rises to allow Mumba to participate in the proceedings.

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He adjourned the case to April 27. Before the plea was taken, another defence lawyer Khumbo Soko applied to have Mumba discharged from the case because the State was yet to serve the defence with complete disclosures despite a court order issued on January 28 2026 directing the same by February 10 2026. But the magistrate dismissed the application, saying the matter had not reached a stage where the court could determine whether there was sufficient evidence.

In September 2025, before the Malawi Electoral Commission announced the results of the September 16 election, Mumba and Kabwila held a press conference themed ‘We got this’ where they alleged that there were incidents of rigging by the DPP. They were arrested by police in December last year and were released on court bail on December 15.

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