One of the hero judges, Justice Healey Potani of the Supreme Court of Malawi, who coincidentally, was the chair of the panel of judges that heard the historic elections case risks arrest after allegedly beating up a Malawi Police Service officer guarding his house.
National Police Spokesperson James Kadadzera has confirmed that Police in Blantyre are investigating Justice Potani on allegations that he assaulted a police officer on duty at his residence in Blantyre for unknown reasons.
The incident took place on Monday. The officer has been identified as Sergeant Emmanuel Sinda.
According to an audio clip purportedly sent by the officer Sergeant Sinda, to his colleagues, Potani was drunk when he committed the crime.
NARRATING THE ORDEAL
“… What happened was that, as you may already be aware I was assigned to be guarding Potani’s house daily. So, I went again this morning and while there, as most of us already know the guy, he loves his drink, he is a drunkard.
“So he was in the house blasting his sound system, drinking, while I was at the guard room with two of his private guards, one had been on night duty and the other was on day duty.
“So, the night guard took leave of us, since his colleague had arrived to relieve him. So, the day guard asked me to leave the guard room momentarily so that he could clean it. So I went to wait by the fence. Some of you, who know Potani’s house, the area where night guards cook their food. So, I was seated there, playing on my phone, while the night guard was sweeping around the guard room.
“So, I guess Potani was done drinking in the house and decided to go out. While he was driving out, he saw me seated by the fence. So he called me. Screaming, ‘Hey, you! come here [expletives]. Who told you to be there?‘I responded, “Boss, the guardroom is being cleaned”. But he continued with his rant, “[expletives]”, throwing all sorts of insults at me. “Your post is the guardroom. Who are you hiding from there? You should be stationed here, we need to be able to see you.”
“I repeated, “Boss, like I have already told you, the guard room was being cleaned”, but he was having none of it. ‘Then he alighted from his vehicle. Since I was standing closer to him, by the his door, he just got out of the car then started slapping me, all over, in the head, the body, etc. leaving me perplexed and puzzled.
“Unfortunately, he is a respectable man and I couldn’t even fight back to at least defend myself, so, I ran away and went to stand at a distance, away from him. He continued with his insults, calling out to me to go back where he was but I didn’t oblige. I told him, “There is no way I am coming back there just so that you can continue beating me.
“After he had left, I called the OC (Officer in charge) told him to come and pick me up because I was so angry and mad, I felt there was no way I was going to continue manning my post at Potani’s house after the ordeal he had just put me through…‘… so, since he was beating me in the rib cage I am in great pain right now, I want to go Limbe Police (station) for a caution statement so that I can go to the hospital for help”.
Potani and his fellow elections case judges have been hailed locally and abroad for upholding the country’s laws and being objective and brave against all odds to deliver a momentous ruling.
They have even won global admiration for respecting the bar winning the Chatham House Global award and most recently The Economist one of the most respected publications globally, named Malawi country of the year, 2020.
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