Former Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) commissioner Linda Kunje has been found guilty of obstructing President Lazarus Chakwera’s convoy.
The Chief Resident Magistrate Court in Zomba has since revoked Kunje’s bail and she will be prison awaiting sentencing.
Kunje’s former driver Jones Tewesa has also been convicted of a similar offence.
The court has set August 23, 2022 for both the state and defence to make their submissions before the ruling is made.
Kunje and Tewesa were accused of criminal, recklessness and negligence after they obstructed President Lazarus Chakwera’s convoy in 2020.
The incident happened along the Blantyre-Zomba road when President Chakwera was going to Zomba on 10 December 2020.
At the time, Kunje was still a MEC commissioner and was travelling from Mangochi to Blantyre using an official vehicle bearing registration number MG 148 AK.
Traffic officers testified in court that the Toyota Prado driven by Tewesa defied orders to stop and park on the side of the road to pave way for Chakwera.
Officers then came across the vehicle at Makoka Research Station where it had stopped but the vehicle later cruised in the direction where the President’s convoy was coming from.
Kunje was part of the electoral commission which managed the now nullified 2019 presidential elections in which Chakwera came second.
She was one of two commissioners from the 2019 elections who were also part of the commission which managed the 2020 Fresh Presidential Elections in which Chakwera won.
She was fired from the commission together with three others following a court ruling in 2021.
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