By Brighton Nkhata
The murder case of FDH Bank employee Tathokoza Salimu is turning into a trial of evidence itself, as questions mount over whether police have adequate proof against Bishop Medram Chirwa of Fountain of Victory Church.
The other dangerous precedence being questioned is whether police have enough evidence to warrant holding a suspect so loosely connected to the case for such a long long time; without a charge, without trial, without hard core evidence, without the said additional suspects arrested. Human rights defenders have argued whether this in itself does not return Malawi into a police state. They further argue that justice delayed for both the suspect and victim carry equal weight of justice distorted or justice denied.
Chirwa, 41, was arrested on 6 October 2026 and remains on remand at Maula Prison awaiting committal to the High Court. He is accused of the murder of Salimu, 31, whose body was found on 21 September inside a black Subaru Impreza, registration BZ 21709, parked at Chinkhota Village near Tatolonga Bridge along the Dzaleka-Dowa Road. She was found slumped in the passenger seat in a pool of blood with a penetrating wound to the neck.
Police say their case, for now, rests on three pillars.
According to Dowa Police spokesperson Alice Sitima, preliminary call log analysis places the Bishop and Salimu together on the day of the killing. Police are also pursuing the “last person” theory after Salimu’s security guard reportedly told investigators that the Bishop was the last person to pick her up from home alive. Officers say the probe is ongoing with other suspects still being sought. But the public is now questioning whether these additional suspects really exist or the stunt remains fictional.
But the defence is punching holes.
In a memo dated 9 October, Fountain Nation founder Apostle Joseph Ziba said the church is “not aware of evidence that conclusively connects him to the alleged offence.” Ziba said Chirwa told police he was at Mbwatalika on the outskirts of Lilongwe to buy land at the time, and three people there confirmed his alibi. A search of his home for the alleged murder weapon and Salimu’s belongings, including foreign currency that was reported missing from her bag, yielded nothing.
The church has also rejected claims that Chirwa shaved his head and fled to Karonga, saying his northern tour with Apostle Ziba is verifiable on Facebook and YouTube, and that he led service on Sunday 27 September.
Legal commentators and human rights defenders in Lilongwe, Blantyre and Mzuzu now argue the case exposes a dangerous gap between suspicion and proof. Some lawyers say a call log and friendship do not satisfy the legal test for murder, which requires proof of malice, causation and forensic linkage.
The magistrate court at Mkukula remanded Chirwa as murder is not bailable there, leaving the High Court to decide on bail and trial.
For now, one woman is dead, one bishop is unfairly in jail, and the evidence — according according to defence lawyers, some Malawi Law society members, and the church, not enough to convict and according to police, enough to arrest — is yet to be tested before a competent Hight Court judge.
