The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has moved the court to discontinue the case against former Police Inspector General (IG) George Kainja who is accused of receiving an advantage from businessperson Zuneth Sattar.
In an interview yesterday, ACB spokesperson Jacqueline Ngongonda said the decision to discontinue the case follows a recent judicial precedent set in the case of the Republic versus Kezzie Msukwa and Ashok Kumar Sreedharan, also known as Ashok Nair—Sattar’s local associate.
In the Msukwa-Kumar case, the Supreme Court ruled that certain evidence obtained through the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK could not be admitted in Malawian courts.
Kainja was arrested in 2022 for allegedly receiving an advantage from Sattar, a UK-based businessperson, to influence a procurement contract to supply 350 000 food ration packs worth $7 875 000 (around K14 billion) to Malawi Police Service in 2021.
Ngongonda said: “As the Kainja matter is similarly linked to the same line of evidence, the bureau has found it necessary to take this procedural step.
“The withdrawal is not an abandonment of the case. It allows the bureau to reassess the available material and pursue additional admissible evidence to support prosecution.”
Ngongonda said if sufficient evidence is found, the law permits the bureau to reopen the case within six months.
Kainja was arrested days after the then president Lazarus Chakwera said in a national address that the graft-busting body report found that he was among the 84 individuals, including former vice-president Saulos Chilima (deceased) who allegedly received money from Sattar in 2021.
Consequently, Chakwera fired Kainja.
