President Lazarus Chakwera says he is yet to get a formal briefing on the discharge of Vice-President Saulos Chilima’s alleged corruption case which led to the withholding of his delegated duties.
In a written response yesterday, presidential press secretary Anthony Kasunda said the President learnt through the media about the discontinuance of Chilima’s case.
He was responding to our inquiry on the President’s position on the status of the Vice-President’s powers in the aftermath of the discharge of the case.
Kasunda said Chakwera will make a decision after a formal report is submitted to his office.
He said: “Once he receives formal communication from the relevant governance institutions, he will exercise his prerogative in a manner that is in the best interest of the nation and inform Malawians accordingly.”
The High Court of Malawi Financial Crimes Division discontinued Chilima’s case following an application by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala.
The DPP is expected to brief the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament on the discharge.
Chamkakala is on record as having told The Nation last week that he met the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on the decision to withdraw the case.
Chakwera on June 21 2022 suspended Chilima’s delegated powers after his name appeared on the ACBs list of 53 public officers linked to alleged corrupt dealings with United Kingdom, based businessperson Zuneth Sattar.
Five months after the President stripped the Vice-President of his delegated powers, Chilima was arrested by the ACB. But as he was about to take plea this month, the DPP moved the courts to withdraw the case.
But the DPP’s decision to withdraw the case has received mixed reactions from civil society leaders who have described the move as a mockery to the fight against corruption.
