Fire guts Kaphale’s house in Blantyre

Fire yesterday morning extensively damaged Attorney General Kalekeni Kaphale’s house in Chileka, Blantyre.

Kaphale in an interview said the exact cause of the fire was yet to be established, but he suspected it was caused by a child who was playing with matchsticks at the time.

However, when asked what was in the house at the time of the fire, he declined to comment further, only saying no one was hurt.

Said Kaphale: “We are all okay and safe. That’s all.”

During a visit to the house around 11am yesterday, people were gathered outside the gate witnessing firefighters putting out the fire.

Smoke could also be seen from outside the brick fence, where there was a crowd that could not be let inside.

A witness we found at the scene, John Moffat, said they were alerted by the sound of sirens from fire engines that were rushing to the house.

“We did not really know what was going on. Then suddenly, we saw smoke coming out from the house and in a few minutes, we saw the fire engines coming here,” he said.

Moffat said soon people started gathering outside the gate, trying to help rescue some items from the house.

But when contacted later, Chileka Police Station spokesperson Jonathan Filipino said he needed to establish more on the cause of the incident. Kaphale, a senior counsel, is leading Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) in the elections case where UTM Party president Saulos Chilima and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader Lazarus Chakwera are challenging results of the May 21 presidential elections.