Ralph Kasambara is a

Malawian This article is about the demographic features of the population of Malawi, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Malawi de ...

lawyer, who served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General since April 2012. He also served as the former Attorney General under the administration of

Bingu wa Mutharika Bingu wa Mutharika (; born Brightson Webster Ryson Thom; 24 February 1934 – 5 April 2012) was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death in April 2012. He was also President of the Democ ...

during the early part of the administration. After which he became the legal representative of the then Malawian vice-president,

Joyce Banda Joyce Hilda Banda (née Ntila; born 12 April 1950) is a Malawian politician who was the President of Malawi from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the ...

. Kasambara has been a critic of the administration of

, being vocal about grounds for impeachment and commenting that "wants to be a dictator". He was jailed in February 2012, after thugs went to his office with petrol bombs in an attempted arson plot, he called the police, together with supporters and restrained the perpetrators. Instead he was arrested for kidnapping and torture of the thugs. He was later released on bail, and then arrested again over the faulty bail procedures.

Arrests and conviction

Prior to this incident Kasambara had been a vocal critic of President Mutharika's administration. Kasambara as arrested on Monday, 14 February 2012 after a group of attempted arsonists went to his offices with petrol bombs and were subdued by him and his supporters. When they called the police, the police arrested him and five others on charges of 'kidnapping' and 'torturing' the three men. He was taken to jail, released on bail, re-arrested for a 'fraudulent bail process'. According to the police, the bail granted by High Court judge Godfrey Mwase was not valid on the grounds that the courts in Malawi are currently on wage strikes albeit all the paper work were processed under due process through court. He was then taken to a maximum security prison. He was then transferred from prison to Mwaiwathu Hospital for a cardiac condition. He was being represented by his lawyer Wapona Kita and was later released On 8 November 2013, Kasambara was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the September shooting of

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

Paul Mphwiyo. following the

Capital Hill Cashgate Scandal Capital Hill Cashgate Scandal or "Cashgate" is a financial scandal involving looting, theft and corruption that happened at Capital Hill, the seat of Government of Malawi. The scandal was uncovered during the administration of President Joyce Ba ...

. He was subsequently denied bail, but later released on bail He would be rearrested on money laundering charges on 27 January 2014. On 21 July 2016, he was convicted by the High Court for conspiring to murder Paul Mphwiyo. On 30 August 2016, he was given a 13-year jail term for conspiracy to murder a civil servant, in a crime believed to be linked to a multi-million dollar corruption ring

Career

He is a law teacher at Chancellor college,

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

. He was an Attorney General under

's first administration. He later became the lawyer for Joyce Banda who was being sidelined by the administration of

. He is also the lawyer of Zambian President

Michael Sata Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who was the fifth president of Zambia, from 23 September 2011 until his death on 28 October 2014. A social democrat, he led the Patriotic Front (PF), a maj ...

. On 26 April 2012, Malawi President

appointed Ralph Kasambara Minister of Justice and Attorney General. On 10 October, a few days after returning from a trip to the UN, President

sacked her cabinet, dropping Kasambara in the new cabinet, which was announced on 15 October 2013. Kasambara was replaced by Fahad Assani

Publications

* "Civic Education in Malawi Since 1992: An Appraisal", in Kings M. Phiri and Kenneth R. Ross, Democratisation in Malawi: A Stocktaking (book), Kacehere Publishing – 1998 * The Legal Regime for Foreign Direct Investment in Malawi (article), UNIMA Students Law Journal – 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasambara, Ralph 20th-century Malawian lawyers 21st-century Malawian lawyers Malawian human rights activists Living people Government ministers of Malawi Academic staff of the University of Malawi Attorneys-General of Malawi Year of birth missing (living people)