Attorney General Frank Mbeta has once again gone to court, not to defend justice, but to chase shadows. His decision to challenge the High Court order that allowed MCP Secretary General Richard Chimwendo Banda to seek a judicial review over his detention shows an Attorney General who seems confused, angry, and bent on revenge rather than guided by law or common sense.
Mbeta argues that Chimwendo Banda used the “wrong door” to seek his freedom. According to him, Chimwendo should have applied for habeas corpus instead of judicial review. This sounds clever only on paper. In real life, the law is not a narrow footpath. Courts allow more than one legal route when a person’s liberty is abused. Judges know this. That is why Justice Kenyatta Nyirenda ordered Chimwendo’s immediate release without blinking.
What makes Mbeta’s actions even more ridiculous is that the battle he is fighting is already lost. Even if his challenge succeeds and the injunction is removed, Chimwendo Banda will still remain free on bail granted by Justice Mvula. So what is the point? Is the Attorney General fighting the law, or is he fighting his own wounded pride?
This is where the whole thing begins to smell of vengeance. The Attorney General is not protecting the public interest. He is trying to “punish” someone who embarrassed the state by winning in court. It is like trying to close the gate after the cow has already gone. Public money is being wasted, court time is being abused, and all Malawians are forced to watch this legal comedy.
Instead of accepting the court’s decision and moving on, Mbeta has chosen to drag the matter further, as if pain itself is the goal. This is not the behaviour of a wise legal mind. It is the behaviour of a sadist—someone who enjoys prolonging suffering even when there is nothing to gain.
The office of the Attorney General is supposed to calm storms, not create them. It should offer guidance, not tantrums. Under Mbeta, however, the office looks like a man swinging punches in the dark, hoping to hit something—anything. No clear strategy, no clear benefit, just noise and anger.
As people are already saying in the streets, AG anali Thabo yemwe uja… uwu ndi nchabwa weni weni. This is not leadership. It is confusion dressed in a suit. Malawi deserves an Attorney General who understands the law, respects the courts, and knows when a fight is already over. What we have instead is an AG who seems to have nothing to offer except bitterness, waste, and a thirst for revenge.
