A K300 million Toyota Land Cruiser 300 is now at the heart of a high-stakes legal battle in Lilongwe — a case that has exposed cracks in regional law enforcement cooperation and raised questions about how Malawi’s justice system handles evidence in cross-border crimes.
The luxury vehicle, owned by Zimbabwean businessman Nesbert Mukora, was allegedly stolen in Zimbabwe and smuggled into Malawi earlier this year before being sold to Malawian businessman Yollam Kawanga.
The transaction, investigators say, was facilitated using forged South African registration documents, sparking a complex trail of criminal and civil litigation.
Two foreign nationals — Tendai Mtunguwazi, a Zimbabwean, and Kabelo Khotlele, a South African — are currently on remand at Maula Prison facing charges connected to the theft and illegal cross-border movement of the vehicle.
But even as the criminal case proceeds, the civil side of the matter has deepened the controversy. Mukora, through his lawyer Khwima Mchizi, has filed a fresh High Court application challenging the court’s earlier decision to release the Land Cruiser to Kawanga, arguing that the car is a key exhibit in the ongoing prosecution and must remain in state custody.
Speaking exclusively to Malawi24, Mchizi described the release of the vehicle as “a grave procedural error” and warned that it sets a dangerous precedent in how evidence is handled in criminal matters.
“You cannot have an exhibit — the very subject of a criminal case — handed back to a civilian while the accused persons are still in custody,” Mchizi said. “It undermines the credibility of the justice process and creates room for evidence tampering or disappearance.”
He added that Mukora’s team has petitioned the High Court in Lilongwe, before Justice Simeon Mdedza, seeking a reversal of the earlier ruling and an order that the vehicle be placed under Interpol custody pending trial.
