“I sentence you to life imprisonment with hard labour for child trafficking and murder of lawyer Chifundo.”

Mr Phiri cried like a baby as Justice Kalonga pronounced the verdict.

This was a day when Justice Kalonga of Supreme Court of Appeal passed judgement on Mr Phiri’s case. Nobody sympathized with Mr Phiri.

There was ululations and dances. Kwadelanji community waited for almost four years to see justice being given to them.  The community was now freed from fear of untimely deaths and disappearance of innocent children.

Mr Phiri was a rich and famous man. He owned maize mills, manufacturing companies, houses as well as trucks. He earned all these in a space of two years.

Mr Phiri had a beautiful and innocent wife. He had a daughter who was usually suffering from unknown deadly disease and was usually in and out of hospitals.

Outside the court, Mrs Phiri could no longer hold her disappointment and pain.

“My husband, am very disappointed in you. How could you do something like this,” said Mrs Phiri.

“No! Don’t get me wrong I did it for you, me and our daughter,” replied Mr Phiri.

“So, it is true that you gave my womb as your sacrifice for your wealth and you even went ahead and scattered a deadly disease on your own daughter,”

Mrs Phiri continued shouting in her anger. She went ahead and told her husband that she is going to pack her things and go to her home right away.

The villagers from Kwadelanji used to say that Mr Phiri had a hand in the numerous mysterious deaths of people. They also suspected that Mr Phiri was responsible for the disappearance of children in the community.

However, the villagers could not take their case further since they had no evidence to prove him guilty of the crimes.

Due to his wealth, Mr Phiri silenced anyone who tried to interfere in his business and transactions. No lawyer could agree to take the case to court since those who tried ended up missing or died mysteriously.

Mr Phiri was also a famous illegal drug dealer in Malawi and across borders. He was in partnership with rich people and famous politicians from different nations. He used to transport trucks of illegal drugs and even kidnapped children who were loaded in the same trucks.

The unfortunate part is that some of the high ranked police officers were also involved. Mr Phiri could bribe high ranked traffic officers with millions of money so that his trucks could pass the borders safely.

One fateful day, Mr Phiri kidnapped five young children who were coming from school. When this was happening there was a young man known as Ndafadi. He was shooting a music video but he captured the event unknowingly. Ndafadi showed the video to his cousin, Chifundo, who had just completed his Law Degree at Chancellor College.

Chifundo was a man who always preached about justice and encouraged the people never to lose hope. He took the case of Mr Phiri to court and he even promised to grant justice for the five young children captured in the video as well as protect his community once and for all.

The case was going on well in court. As usual, Mr Phiri could not tolerate someone interfering in his matters. Few days after case commenced, the young lawyer Chifundo was found dead. His body was dumped under the bridge which was two kilometres away from his house.

Chifundo’s dead body was said to have been stabbed twice with a knife and was also hit in the head by something. Due to this, Mr Phiri’s case was stayed.

In addition to that, Ndafadi who was to testify in court went missing.

People of Kwadelanji village cried, “For how long we will continue to suffer?” “When will we be free and enjoy the freedom our forefathers fought for?”

Mr Phiri continued his businesses and children continued disappearing. Nobody seemed to care. People of Kwaderanji village lost hope.

 

One sunday morning two strange poshy cars arrived in the village. The cars went straight to the chief’s house. A smartly dressed young man accompanied by two body guards stepped out. The young man introduced himself as lawyer Charles. He came to inform the community that the case of Mr Phiri was reopened and judgement would be on Friday. He asked the chief to go to court with his people in large numbers on the day.

It was known when the journalist interviewed the lawyer that he was a classmate of Chifundo, the young lawyer who died. Chifundo informed him of the case and his wish to see justice being served to his people. Chifundo shared the case and evidence to him and asked him that if he dies he should ensure that his people receive justice once and for all. Lawyer Charles could not hide his happiness seeing people of Kwaderanji being freed from Mr Phiri and his associates.