APM asks ACB for more time
Former president Peter Mutharika has asked the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) to allow him a week-long rest before he can be interviewed about suspected abuse of his duty free status while in office.
The graft-busting body was scheduled to interview him virtually on Wednesday, but he told ACB officials that he was unwell.
Mutharika, 81, who on Tuesday described the interview as political persecution as none of his predecessors was subjected to the same, availed himself to ACB investigators on the virtual platform before his lawyers immediately indicated that he was unwell.
In an interview on Wednesday, ACB director general Martha Chizuma confirmed that lawyers for the two parties discussed the situation and agreed to allow the former president to recuperate.
She said: “We have been informed that he is still not feeling well. The ACB team met with his lawyers and agreed that we give him time to get medical attention. We will touch base in the course of next week to reschedule the interview.”
In a separate interview, former minister of Justice Samuel Tembenu, who is one of the lawyers representing Mutharika, on Wednesday also confirmed the development, saying “it has been too much for him”.
He said: “He needs a bed rest. It has been too much on him, all week it has been about the documents they [ACB] sent and we have agreed on modalities on how we will proceed.
“The ACB approached us basically to request us soften our stance, but we need to consult and review our position.”
Tembenu said the former president’s reluctance to participate in the interview was premised on the legal moves by the ACB which showed that the he was considered a suspect.
He said: “He has not been charged with any crime, but they froze his account for months and continue to say he is not a suspect but in court documents they say he is a suspect of money laundering and fraud charges.
“We will talk to our client and decide whether we must proceed as we planned or cooperate with the interview.”
Mutharika, a former professor of international law in the United States of America, on Monday released a statement stating that he considered the ACB investigation as political witchhunt.
Two weeks ago, sources close to the investigation confided in The Nation that the probe was separate from the previous one into his alleged importation of K5 billion worth of cement using his duty free status.
The importation of the cement and alleged abuse of his TPIN led to the arrest of Mutharika’s personal bodyguard Norman Chisale and former Chief of Staff Peter Mukhito.
Besides the two aides, other individuals arrested in connection to the scandal included former Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) deputy commissioner general Roza Mbilizi and a Lilongwe based Asian businessman Ahmed Chunara.
Impeccable sources close to the investigation indicate the investigation involves billions of property imported into the country during the tenure of Mutharika from May 2014 to June 2020.
The ACB has provided all the documents to Mutharika and his lawyers.
In October last year, the Malawi Police Service Fiscal Section also interviewed Mutharika in relation to the cement import matter.
However, ACB sources indicate that the graft-busting body’s interview is different from the police probe.
