Norman Chisale

Cars

Chisale had 78 vehicles, most of them high-end, including Range Rovers, Land Cruisers, Mercedes Benzes, BMW X5s, Jeep Wranglers and a Hummer seized by anti-corruption prosecutors in March 2021. As a reward for his loyalty, Chisale became head of the president’s personal security detail. This made Chisale one of the most powerful men in Malawi and one of the most feared. ^[1]

Education

Prosecutors claim that Chisale faked the education certificates that he used to obtain employment in the military, and later in the presidency.^[1]

Career

Chisale began his career in military intelligence, before getting a job in 2009 as a valet to the then-president, Bingu wa Mutharika. When the president died in office, Chisale transferred his loyalties to Bingu's brother, Peter Mutharika.^[1]

Legal Woes

In addition to the corruption charges, Chisale faced multiple criminal charges, including murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, abuse of office, tax evasion and forgery. The murder charge relates to the 2015 grisly killing of Issa Njauju, a top official from Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, whose dismembered, decomposing body was found near a stream just a short distance from the presidential palace in Lilongwe.

In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Chisale said he was not nearly as wealthy as prosecutors believed and denied all wrongdoing.

He refused to answer questions about whether he owns any foreign property, saying that he will respond to this allegation only in court. He said that he owns only a few cars, and that most of the vehicles attributed to him were gifts to the former president, received while in office, which Chisale had received and registered on his behalf.

Chisale said:

“Sometimes the vehicles came as gifts for the president but the president would say, ‘No, I don’t want to touch that car, speak to my son Chisale’. Then the person would call me and say, ‘I have spoken to the boss and he says I should speak to you.’Then I would say, ‘No problem …’ They would say we have a car and they would ask me in whose name should the car be registered and my job was to receive the car and bring it to State House, and the president would direct [to] whom I should give the car.”

^[1]

In 2016, a year after the death of Njauju, police had put up a reward of 2 million kwacha for a tip-off from anyone who might have known people that killed him. However, years had gone by without the police making tangible progress on the matter.

In May 2018 some civil rights groups in Malawi petitioned the African Union, after noting that Peter Mutharika's administration was lacking the political will to investigate Njauju’s murder and bring culprits to book. In 2016, police made two arrests in connection to the murder of Njauju and it is not yet clear if the two are still in the hands of the law enforcers. ^[2]

References