AG, Mulli tussle in bus depots case

Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda has challenged business mogul Leston Mulli that there is no clause in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) where government mandated National Bus Company Limited to manage bus depots in the country.

The AG, procedures were flouted in the manner the assets were disposed and took to task Mulli who owns the company to prove otherwise.

The AG dragged National Bus Services Limited to court for alleged illegal acquisition of bus depots and workshops which formerly belonged to State–owned Shire Bus Lines before its liquidation in 2007.

During cross-examination in the High Court of Malawi Financial and Economic Crimes Division on Tuesday, Chakaka-Nyirenda asked the defendant to show the court where in the MoU government gave powers to his company manage the depots

Said the AG: “I told you five months ago that you will not find it, have you now found it? It is a yes or no question, there is nowhere you will find that.”

But Mulli, who responded that his lawyers were still searching for the document, explained that according to a letter by former Privatisation Commission chief executive officer Jimmy Lipunga dated October 2007, the assets were legally handed over to his company.

Reads the letter which Mulli read out in Court: “The lease document is currently under preparation and will take a while to be finalised but since your operation has already commenced, in order not to hamper your activities, the assets are hereby being handed over to Malawi Bus Service with immediate effect.”

He also added that another letter from an accountant from Privatisation Commission, Audrey Mwala, also gave the company a go-ahead.

The AG also quizzed Mulli on whether processes such as pre-feasibility, bid selection, adverts and Cabinet approval were undertaken before handing over of the assets to which Mulli said he had no idea.”

Mulli at one point requested for a bottle of water and also asked for a bit more time, saying he was writing notes as he was being cross-examined.

He further told the court that the liquidator of the defunct State-owned Shire Bus Lines Hastings Bofomo Nyirenda was not part of the negotiations in the disposal of assets of the company.

According to Mulli, the people involved in the negotiations were Lipunga, Mwala, former Secretary to the Treasury Radson Mwadiwa, Stuart Malata from the Ministry of Finance and Victor Lungu from the Ministry of Transport.

During re-examination in-chief, Mulli in his response to defence lawyer Frank Mbeta said that according to letters from Lipunga and Mwala, the lease agreement was offered to National Bus Company Limited but a signed copy was not made available.

“There was no theft here, what Bofomo was saying that I was illegally there is not true. The liquidator was copied both letters and was aware of what was happening, and was given explicit instructions not to include the assets in the sale,” said Mulli.

Meanwhile, the court has adjourned the matter to February 5 to 7 2024 to hear testimonies of the new witnesses.

The bus depots that government wants to reclaim are Lilongwe, Wenela in Blantyre, and Mzimba.