ACB releases Kamudoni
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has terminated the contract for its special prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu whom the graft-busting body engaged in 2015 to help it prosecute some special cases.
ACB director-general Reyneck Matemba confirmed the development in an interview this week, saying hiring lawyers is “extremely expensive and unsustainable”.
Matemba could not disclose how much the bureau was spending on Nyasulu. As a cost-cutting measure, the bureau now intends to recruit more lawyers.
Said Matemba: “We are of the view that it is better to recruit more lawyers than to continue hiring lawyers to help us prosecute some of the cases we have.”
ACB, which currently has a caseload of 300 cases, has seven prosecutors against an establishment of 22 lawyers, according to Matemba. ACB hired Nyasulu after he successfully secured convictions as a lead prosecutor for the State in all the Cashgate cases he handled at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Asked on what will become NTCHINDI MEKI Staff Reporter of cases that Nyasulu was handling, including the K2 billion Cashgate case involving former army commander Henry Odillo and four others as well as the corruption case involving former minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Uladi Musa, Matemba indicated that Nyasulu will continue with the cases until completion.
He disclosed that ACB has sourced funds from a development partner to ensure that prosecution of the cases is not affected. Government first engaged Nyasulu in 2013 under the sponsorship of the European Union (EU) to prosecute Cashgate cases as part of the technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
In an earlier interview, European Union (EU) head of politics, press and information James Dolan confirmed that the EU was not renewing Nyasulu’s contract due to its restrictions on contract durations.
“The EU is committed to the fight against corruption in Malawi. The type of short-term contract we had with Mr Nyasulu One more police unit in flames could, according to our Rules and Procedures, only be extended once (which we did),” said Dolan in a written response.
Nyasulu’s last high-profile Cashgate case as a lead prosecutor was concluded in August 2015 and involved Caroline Savala, who was convicted. Some of the Cashgate convicts who were prosecuted by Nyasulu include Victor Sithole, Maxwell Namata and the late Triza Senzani.
Nyasulu has served as DPP, consultant lawyer and prosecutor at the United Nations tribunals.
