AG nods to Msisha role
…wants veteran lawyer to handle Chilima case
Attorney General Thabo Chakaka- Nyirenda says he expects new DPP Masauko Chamkakala to allow private practice lawyer Mordecai Msisha SC to prosecute Vice-President Saulos Chilima and other suspects in their corruption cases.
Former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Steven Kayuni refused to allow Msisha to prosecute the cases before he was removed from the position last month.
However, in an interview, Chakaka Nyirenda said Msisha will not only be prosecuting Chilima, but other cases as well.
“The expectation is that the DPP is going to act on my instruction. So, of course I haven’t followed up with him, but that is what is going to be the expectation,” he said.
In the AG’s instruction letter which The Nation has seen dated January 11 2023, Chakaka Nyirenda said he
expected the office of the DPP to rescind its decision to withhold consent on the matter.
Reads the letter in part: “After careful consideration of your decision, I am of the view that you should revisit your decision rejecting the appointment of Mr Modecai Msisha, SC as public prosecutor in the specific cases that the Anti-Corruption Bureau [ACB] provided or is about to provide.
“As a condition of the appointment, and as is the case with any other lawyer appointed, as a public prosecutor you should require Mr. Modecai Msisha to submit to your office and the ACB progress reports regarding the matter(s) where consent has been granted for him to prosecute.”
According to Chakaka Nyirenda, the appointment should be for specific cases, and not a blanket appointment for all cases.
When contacted, Chamkakala said he will not be making comments on issues of daily processes, but rather, “the interest should be when the issues get into court because that will be public space.”
Last weekend, ACB director general Martha Chizuma told our sister newspaper Weekend Nation that they will commit the Chilima case to the High Court following earlier rejection of Msisha.
She said: “You would recall that the former DPP declined the appointment of Mordecai Msisha, SC to lead prosecution of this matter.
“Following the development, we are currently working on an application to commit the matter to the High Court— the Financial Crimes and Economic Court. Then the processes will continue from there.”
Chizuma stated earlier that they “needed someone sober and mature, someone with gravitas to be able to handle such an issue and that is why we settled for SC Msisha.”
Malawi Law Society (MLS) honorary secretary Chrispin Ngunde said in a written response earlier that the law allows the ACB director general to appoint any legal practitioner in civil matters.
He said: “In terms of the law, Section 5B of the Corrupt Practices Act [CPA] expressly permits the director of ACB to appoint any legal practitioner to provide legal representation to the ACB in civil matters, but the Corrupt Practices Act is silent on legal representation in criminal matters.
“However, the ACB has on previous occasions been assisted in criminal matters by private legal practitioners who are appointed by the DPP in exercise of his powers of delegation under Section 100(1) (b) of the Constitution and power to appoint public prosecutors under Section 79 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code.”
The ACB engaged Msisha to prosecute the case in which Chilima is alleged to have received $280 000 and other items from United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar as a reward government contracts to companies belonging to him.
Chilima, who was arrested on November 25 2022 and granted court bail the same day, is facing six counts of which three are for corrupt practices by a public officer contrary to Section 24(1) of the CPA, two are for receiving advantage for using influence in regard to contracts contrary to Section 29 (1) (b) of the CPA.
He is also answering a count of failing to make a full report to a police officer or an officer of the ACB that an advantage had been corruptly given to him contrary to Section 36 (1) of the CPA.
