Rev. Maulidi stands with Kamangila
* As Justice Kenan Manda vs Alexious Kamangila defamation mediation case started today in judge’s chamber
* Kamangila was supposed to be protected right from the beginning in whatever way as a whistleblower to corruption
By Duncan Mlanjira
As the mediation of the defamation case between High Court Judge, Justice Kenan Manda and private practice lawyer, Alexious Kamangila got underway today, All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) economic justice & accountability champion in Malawi, Rev. Baxton Maulidi maintains the call for government to put strong mechanisms in place in order to protect corruption whistleblowers.
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Kamangila came into the limelight last year in which he accused Justice Kenan Manda alongside other members of the Malawi Judiciary of being corrupt, an allegation which Justice Manda sued for defamation.
The statement of the case having been closed, presiding judge, Justice Simeon Mdeza called for the mediation process in his chambers today, which brought Rev. Maulidi to reiterate his earlier call that Kamangila “was supposed to be protected right from the beginning in whatever way as a whistleblower on corruption”.
Rev. Maulidi, who is also AACC’s anti-corruption ambassador in Malawi — and has just been appointed as member of the Eco-Sterwardship Advisory Committee — says AACC stands with Kamangila and whosever comes after him as a whistleblower.
“Our legal systems need to be very objective in as far as whistleblowing is concerned,” he said. “Whistleblowers are not supposed to be taken to courts because the government is supposed to stand with them in order to expose issues of corruption.
“When the government says it is serious in the fight against corruption, whom is it working with? Isn’t it by encouraging whistleblowers to raise issues of corruption? It is up to the government and the legal system to examine the allegations and the evidence presented to move the legal system to let justice take its course.
“But it seems Kamangila was left alone in the cold, leaving him to face the wrath of those he is trying to expose, which is very unfortunate and disheartening because that will discourage future whistleblowers on corruption.”
Rev. Maulidi maintained that as AACC economic justice & accountability champion in Malawi, he has not adjudged those that Kamangila mentioned as guilty but the manner in which his allegations were not taken seriously by the state authorities.
He thus encouraged more whistleblowers to come forward, but “it does not mean people should just come out and implicate others that they are involved in corruption, that would be uncalled for and should not be condoned”.
”Let us help the government in the fight against corruption and thus I ask the government to develop the mechanism that would protect whistleblowers, who are important in the exposure of the vice that is affecting Malawi and the rest of the African continent,” says Rev. Maulidi.
The issue of protection of whistleblowers is also being advanced by the Africa Union (AU) Advisory Board against Corruption. Last November, Rev. Maulidi was invited and made a presentation during 8th annual African anti-corruption dialogue held in Arusha, Tanzania held under the theme; ‘Effective Whistleblowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight against Corruption’.
Rev. Maulidi was invited soon after he championed that if the fight against corruption is to be achieved in Malawi, members of the public should be encouraged on corruption whistleblowing — and should be protected.
The theme for the two-day conference by the AU Advisory Board against Corruption was mooted since the AU Board dedicated its work in 2024 to promote the role of whistleblowing in combatting corruption.
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The specific objectives of the indaba included taking stock of whistleblower protection in Africa; identifying best practices in whistleblower protection that are contributing to the fight against corruption in Africa and to provide recommendations to State parties on effective whistleblower mechanisms to improve whistleblower protection.
Thus Rev. Maulidi stands firms that by threatening Kamangila with a lawsuit demanding in which Justice Manda demanded K250 million compensation, it was to gag him from further exposure of corrupt practices.
Malawi Law Society (MLS), the coalition of civil societies (CSOs), the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament and the members of the public had asked the Judicial Service Commission to investigate the alleged corruption accusations — which the Commission obliged by rolling out its investigations into the alleged allegations that Kamangila made in the public domain.
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