AG warns of legal action against leaked opinion
Attorney General (AG) Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda says he will take legal action against individuals that leaked a legal opinion he made to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) nodding payment to Malachite FZE.
In an interview on Thursday, the AG said he suspects the ACB as a possible source of the leakage.
The AG said this on Weekend Nation sought to authenticate a legal opinion purportedly from him making rounds on social media.
While confirming the document was genuine, Chakaka-Nyirenda said he was convinced the leak originated from ACB because the copy in circulation has a date stamp from the bureau.
However, Chakaka-Nyirenda said his legal opinion does not in any way depart from his position to order cancellation of contracts at Malawi Police Service (MPS) and Malawi Defence Force (MDF) that have been subjects of investigations; only that he believes the contractor should be paid for goods delivered prior to contract cancellation.
He said: “While we espouse free speech tenets and rights of the press, it is irresponsible to leak my legal opinion on a sensitive matter like this one. I take great exception and I will be taking legal steps against whoever is involved in this kind of conduct.
“I give legal opinions to many government entities and there has never been such a miscarriage as seen with the ACB one.”
In a written response to a questionnaire, the bureau’s principal public relations officer Egrita Ndala on Thursday said ACB has seen the document circulating in the media.
“This is regrettable. We have been in contact with the Attorney General’s office. The bureau will work on addressing the problem,” she said.
Chaka-Nyirenda explained that his office terminated all the contracts on January 8 2022 that were subjects of investigations based on convenience and public interest pursuant to Section 46(c) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act, 2017.
He argued that Malachite FZE can only be paid for the water cannons the company supplied successfully and Malawi Police Service took delivery of the same.
Chakaka-Nyirenda said: “This is within law, as per the contract signed, but anything coming after termination of the contract is what can be regarded as illegal. I made this clear at the time I was terminating the contracts.”
In December last year, the AG also debarred some companies owned by businesspersons of Asian descent for allegedly making huge and questionable claims against government.
In three separate letters we saw, the AG stopped MPS and MDF from dealing with the companies and their owners.
Chakaka-Nyirenda’s predecessor, Chikosa Silungwe, was also a victim of leakages of his legal opinions and on February 12 2021 he issued a statement condemning the malpractice.
