Inside Agnes Katengeza’s home, Court retraces her final morning

Nearly three years after Agnes Katengeza’s death, her home in Area 49, Baghdad, became the centre of attention again on Tuesday as the High Court in Lilongwe physically retraced events surrounding her final known morning.

The scene inspection, granted by presiding Judge Bruno Kalemba following a joint application by the State and defence, brought the court from the courtroom into the actual environment where some of the last known events involving Agnes unfolded.

At the house, Rabecca Batison, Agnes’ former housemaid and the State’s sixth witness, continued giving evidence as the court examined the setting. Her testimony has provided details of what was happening at the residence before Agnes left.

Batison previously told the court that on the morning in September 2023, she was performing her usual household duties while Amos Katengeza was outside washing Agnes’ vehicle in preparation for her departure.

What appeared to be an ordinary morning at the time has since become part of the evidence in a murder trial. The scene inspection allowed the court to revisit the surroundings while considering Batison’s account of what happened that day.

By the following day, the atmosphere at the residence had changed. Batison told the court that people began arriving after learning through social media that Agnes had been found dead.

Agnes, an employee of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, was murdered on September 23, 2023, and her body was discovered the following day in the boot of her car behind Lilongwe Gateway Mall.

Director of Criminal Litigation in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Dzikondianthu Malunda, is leading the State’s case, while Amos Katengeza and Egnat Katengeza are represented by lawyers Kavu Kaphwiti Banda and Khumbo Soko, respectively.

As the trial continues, Tuesday’s return to Agnes’ home offered the court another opportunity to piece together the events surrounding the final morning of her life.