Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Dr Kondwani Nankhumwa has asked President Lazarus Chakwera to use his clemency power by pardoning convicted youthful Mussa John and commissioner Linda Kunje.
In a leaked letter dated 27th September, 2022, Nankhumwa pleads with Chakwera that Mussa John is a young man who looks after his old mother and a sister with disabilities and as teenager he may not have full knowledge of the consequences of his actions.
Nankhumwa has also said that some people have been charged and convicted of similar offences but have just walked away with fines and this has angered the society.
On Linda Kunje, Nankhumwa has also asked president Chakwera that as a man of God who understands humanity at a level beyond the ordinary he must “let her go”.
“Your Excellency, apart from being a mother, Commissioner Linda Kunje may still have a something to positive to contribute to the welfare of the nation in one way or another and that she has learnt a lesson from her misconduct,” urges Nankhumwa.
According the constitution of Malawi the responsibility for exercising the pardon power is vested in the Article 89(2) which says: The President may pardon convicted offenders, grant stays of execution of sentence, reduce sentences, or remit sentences:
Provided that-
(a) decisions under this subsection shall be taken in consultation with an Advisory Committee on the Granting of Pardon, the composition and formation of which shall be determined by an Act of Parliament;
“My appeal to your Excellency, Sir, in both cases is not based on the merits of material facts in their cases and sentencing, but to your sense of reason as the First Citizen in a plenetary society called Malawi, who is capable of empathy, and to see through circumstances beyond just laws and legal frameworks, pleads Nankhumwa who is also DPP Vice President for the South.
Recently Penjani Kalua popularly known as Fredokiss petitioned the president to pardon Mussa John arguing his offence is pardonable.
