Annie Mumba, who was convicted by the High Court for the murder of her husband Professor Peter Mumba, has died while on bail pending appeal before the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.
Family sources confirmed on Tuesday that Mumba died before her appeal hearing could commence. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Mumba was serving a 53-year sentence after the High Court convicted her over the death of her husband, a chemistry professor at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, who died on April 25, 2020.
High Court Judge Mzonde Mvula convicted and sentenced Mumba on October 31, 2024 for unlawfully causing the death of her husband between April 24 and 25, 2020 at their home in Area 38 in Lilongwe.
Following the conviction, Mumba lodged an appeal in the Supreme Court on November 22, 2024 through her lawyers, challenging both the conviction and sentence. She also applied for bail pending appeal at the High Court.
However, the High Court dismissed the application, prompting her to seek a stay of sentence and bail at the Supreme Court of Appeal. In a ruling dated January 13, 2026, Justice of Appeal Sylvester Kalembera later granted her bail pending determination of the appeal.
In her appeal, Mumba argued that although the court concluded that Professor Mumba died from poisoning, there was no evidence proving that she administered the poison. She further argued that the specific poison responsible for the death was never identified during trial.
But the State, through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed the application, arguing that Mumba had been lawfully convicted after a full trial and had therefore lost the presumption of innocence.
Mumba, 56, was first arrested in August 2020 before being released on bail during the trial.
