By Chisomo Phiri
Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara has described the late Raphael Kasambara as a person who was a mentor and patriot to many people in the country.
Hara was speaking this when the body of late Kasambara was arriving at Mzuzu Airport on Sunday
“Malawi has lost a powerful man who loved his country very much, he was well educated and he should have opted to stay abroad but he decided to come back home to help to develop his country.
“He was a man who willingly taught many people about laws, and we can’t talk about lawyers without mentioning his name.
“He was a giant in the legal fraternity, and we are here to mourn one of Malawi’s great sons,” she said.
Kasambara died on Friday in Lilongwe.
Before departing for Mzuzu, there was a memorial service at St. Montfort Catholic Church in Blantyre.
The late Kasambara once served as the country’s Justice Minister and the Attorney General before his arrest in 2013 for his involvement in the shooting of former budget director Paul Mphwiyo during Joyce Banda’s administration.
Mphwiyo survived the shooting.
In 2016, Kasambara was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment on the count of conspiracy to murder Mphwiyo while his accomplices, Pika Manondo and former Malawi Defence Force soldier Macdonald Kumwembe were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labor.
But he was released on bail some years back.
His remains will be laid to rest today at his home village in Nkhata Bay District.
