By Wendy Mkandawire
Police in Jenda have arrested two people on suspicion of murdering a 26-year-old man, Moffat Ndhlovu of Chilemba Village, Traditional Authority Mnyanja in Kasungu District.
According to Jenda Police Station Public Relations Officer, Constable Godknows Malema, the suspects are Japhet Chirwa, 29, and Manyani Gift Malinga, 30, both from Kamzunguzeni Village, Traditional Authority Mzukuzuku in Mzimba District.
Malema said Ndhlovu, who was unmarried and earned a living through piecework, was killed on July 9, 2026 at Luviri Trading Centre in Mzimba District.
Preliminary investigations indicate that on July 8, 2026, Ndhlovu received K150,000 after molding bricks and shared the money with a colleague.
In the evening, he went to drink beer at a bar within Luviri Trading Centre. While there, he reportedly got into a quarrel with the second suspect over unknown issues.
According to Malema The first suspect, who had just arrived at the bar, asked about the cause of the quarrel. When the victim did not respond but instead slapped him, the suspect allegedly produced a knife and stabbed him in the stomach.
Ndhlovu’s body was found in the early hours of July 9, 2026, on a road a few meters from his father’s house.
He added that,Police officers from Jenda Police Station, together with medical personnel from Jenda Rural Hospital, visited the scene. A postmortem conducted at the hospital established that death was due to loss of blood secondary to a stab wound.
After committing the crime, the two suspects fled and went into hiding. However, police arrested them on July 11, 2026, through an intelligence-driven operation.
The suspects will appear in court soon to answer murder charges once all legal processes are completed.
