ACB grills Atupele, he maintains innocence
Former minister of Lands Atupele Muluzi has said he was summoned to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) as a witness in an investigation into allocation of two plots in Lilongwe.
He said this yesterday after spending two and a half hours at ACB Headquarters in where he was questioned about allocation of plots Numbers Bwaila 13/127 and 13/128 in Lilongwe.
After the questioning, Muluzi appeared calm and spoke to the crowd that had escorted him.
He said: “You very well know that I follow the law and I am a firm believer of the rule of law. So, I availed myself to meet ACB officials so that I could answer some questions as a witness.
“ACB should not be used to victimise innocent people. That is a message that these [supporters] people are sending. But for me, as Atupele, I walk freely because I am innocent. I did not do anything wrong, or something suspicious.”
However, his appearance at ACB offices was not without controversy, as the supporters, some clad in United Democratic Front attire, tried to block him from entering the bureau’s premises.
When he arrived at around 1.55 pm for the 2pm scheduled meeting, his supporters blocked him while chanting and shouting that Atupele, son to former president Bakili Muluzi, will not enter the ACB offices.
Rights activist Bon Kalindo seized the moment to rally the supporters not to allow their leader to pass through the gate.
He said: “Atupele Muluzi is not a thief. We know who thieves are in government. We will not allow him to go in there until real thieves who mess up the Affordable Inputs Programme [AIP] by spending K750 million on a dubious fertiliser supplier are called here.”
After some time, Atupele reappeared from his Toyota Land Cruiser Prado which was sandwiched between another Land Cruiser Prado and a Toyota Fortuner, to calm the situation.
He went into the ACB offices at around 2.25pm and shortly, thereafter, a group of Police Mobile Force arrived on the scene to bring order. They waited until Muluzi came out of the meeting.
Catholic University of Malawi head of political studies Chimwemwe Kandodo deplored the behaviour of Atupele’s supporters, saying people need to know that institutions like the ACB are guided by law and must be left to do their job.
She said: “We should not smile on this, it is bad. After all, the ACB simply invites people to question them on what they suspect. Let the full process of the law take its course.
“If they are clean, they will be let to go, if not, the law will follow them. Politicians have to be in the forefront telling their supporters that such a process is legal.”
Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency executive director Willy Kambwandira agreed that such incidents are regrettable.
“We want to end corruption, but we are using politics to uphold the vice. Malawians doing this should be ashamed of themselves,” he said.
The plots ACB summoned Atupele for appear on the list of properties that the agency placed under a restriction order on December 23 2021 in connection with investigations linked to United Kingdom based businessperson Zuneth Sattar.
In its December 23 2021 restriction notice, ACB stopped the Ministry of Lands from dealing with properties which it believed Sattar, who is under probe over some procurement contracts with Malawi Government, has beneficial interest.
On December 31 2021, another former minister of Lands Kezzie Msukwa was arrested alongside Sattar associate Ashok Nair in connection with similar land issues, but the duo is challenging the arrest. The matter is with the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is expected to determine the admissibility of foreign obtained evidence
