Tadikira Mafubza: Peter Mutharika’s step-son acquitted over migrant deaths

“We are pleased with the outcome,” Mr Mafubza’s lawyer said on Wednesday.

“To be honest, we saw it coming as the evidence [against our client] was disjointed.”

However, Dzikondianthu Malunda, an official in the Director of Public Prosecution, said the ruling had “come as a suprise”.

Mr Mafubza himself declined to comment on his aquittal as he left the courtroom on Wednesday, only stopping to pose for photographers’ pictures.

In October 2022, police found a grave filled with dozens of bodies in a forest in the northern district of Mzimba after young boys reportedly detected a foul smell.

The corpses were of boys and men believed to be Ethiopian migrants being trafficked to South Africa.

Malawi is a major trafficking route for migrants from Ethiopia and Somalia.

After police launched a search for Mr Mafubza, he handed himself over at their headquarters in the capital, Lilongwe.

The former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had described his arrest as a political witch-hunt against Mr Mutharika’s family and his supporters.