Police raid home of Malawi high-court judge

Police, accompanied by officials from the country’s graft-busting agency, late Monday raided the home of a high court judge in Malawi hours after he ruled against the government, an official said.
The acting director of the anti-corruption bureau, Tumalishe Ndovi, confirmed that police and his officials had raided the Blantyre home of Joseph Mwanyungwa, saying it was “a normal routine operation.”
Ndovi declined to reveal the purpose of the search “to avoid jeopardising investigations.”
The judge, who was not at home during the raid, told AFP that he had not been informed what the police were looking for.
“I don’t know whether I am under arrest or not and for what reason,” he said.
Lawyer Ralph Kasambara told AFP that Mwanyungwa’s home was searched a few hours after he delivered a verdict late Monday in which he refused to vacate an injunction sought on Sunday by two opposition MPs stopping parliament from debating the budget.
“Police obtained a search warrant for Mwanyungwa after he rejected an application by the attorney-general to vacate the injunction,” Kasambara, himself a former attorney-general, said.
“The police stormed the house and didn’t find anything. They left after a long search,” he said.
Kasambara represented the opposition lawmakers in seeking the injunction that on Monday forced parliament to adjourn indefinitely.
“We will not be intimidated with such things. Parliament cannot discuss the budget in the present political environment,” he said.
President Bingu wa Mutharika and the opposition have been at loggerheads for weeks in a row sparked by a court ruling which allows the speaker of parliament to sack dozens of MPs who defected to the government benches.
Mutharika has been trying to delay the impact of the ruling which would effectively lead to the toppling of his minority administration and mass by-elections.
The opposition, which has 105 of 193 seats in parliament, has responded by refusing to discuss the budget until the expulsion of the 41 lawmakers who crossed the floor of the house after being elected under different colours.