Citizens for Justice & Equity (CJE) has warned that Malawi risks sliding back into a culture of political repression if arrests and prolonged detentions are used as tools of governance, insisting that leadership must be anchored in constitutionalism rather than fear.
Speaking amid controversy over the arrest, detention, and subsequent granting of bail to former senior government officials, CJE chairperson Agape Khombe said leadership “cannot be about intimidating people through arrests and detention,” stressing that the Constitution guarantees personal liberty, bail, and the presumption of innocence for all accused persons.
The civil rights organisation said it had followed with grave concern developments following the change of political leadership, particularly the reaction by some state actors and affiliated groups to court decisions granting bail.
According to CJE, the State’s power to investigate crime must always be exercised strictly within the law and never as punishment or political retribution.
CJE commended the Judiciary for upholding the Constitution by granting bail where the State failed to comply with legally prescribed detention periods, describing the decisions as a clear demonstration of judicial independence rather than bias or interference.
However, the organisation expressed deep alarm at public statements suggesting intentions to appeal bail rulings on political grounds, as well as demonstrations and attacks directed at judges. It warned that any effort to intimidate the courts undermines judicial independence guaranteed under Section 103 of the Constitution and poses a direct threat to democratic governance.
Placing the situation in historical context, CJE noted that Malawi has repeatedly witnessed politically motivated arrests, from the colonial and one-party eras to the multiparty period, where opponents of successive governments faced detention, prosecution, and unresolved cases that eroded public trust in the justice system.
The organisation said the post-2025 political transition had raised public expectations of reconciliation, unity and respect for the rule of law, but warned that renewed arrests, threats of property forfeiture and politically charged enforcement measures were reviving fears of selective justice and intimidation.
CJE called on the current leadership to break decisively with the past by ensuring arrests are based on lawful investigations, protecting judges from harassment, and embracing inclusive governance.
It warned that Malawi’s democracy cannot be strengthened through intimidation and arrests, but only through respect for the Constitution, judicial independence, and equal justice under the law.
