AG hints at Shire Bus Lines liquidation prosecution

Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda has indicated that government will prosecute all officers who allegedly failed to discharge their respective duties in the disposal of assets which belonged to State–owned Shire Bus Lines before its liquidation in 2007.

In an interview with Nation Online, the AG explained that failure of a public officer to play his functions thereby disadvantaging government is a crime under the Corrupt Practices Act (CPA) Section 25 and Penal Code Section 5.

The High Court of Malawi Financial and Economic Crimes Division is currently hearing a repossession case in which the State wants to prove that the assets were acquired illegally.

National Bus Service Limited owned by Leston Mulli has been claiming that government gave them the depots and some land after taking over the defunct State-owned Shire Bus Lines but the AGs position, as per court records, has been that there was no transfer of land.

Said Chakaka-Nyirenda: “There are some former civil servants who flouted procedures in the disposal of government property and law enforcement agencies will investigate them and take them to court to answer on the role they played in the liquidation process.”

According to the AG, there are clearly laid out guidelines on how government property needs to be disposed of including a feasibility study, Cabinet approval, adverts, bids selection and contract negotiations among others but none was done.

In August last year, the High Court of Malawi Commercial Division in Blantyre gave a nod to liquidator of Shire Bus Lines, Hastings Bofomo Nyirenda, to proceed to dispose of the depots.

The ruling followed another judgement delivered on August 3 2022 by the High Court in Lilongwe which granted the AG a preservation order that effectively stopped the bus company from dealing in any way with the bus depots it claimed it owned.

The August 3 High Court order made in Lilongwe was also preceded by another made in the High Court in Blantyre, which discharged permission for judicial review which was granted to National Bus Company.

Some ex-Shire Bus Lines employees are also demanding 15 percent of proceeds generated from the sale of the liquidated bus company.