Chizuma on trial
Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director general Martha Chizuma is expected in the dock today for plea to two offences the State has plucked from her leaked audio conversation.
She is expected to appear before the Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe under criminal case number 236 of 2023.
According to the charge sheet, the first count is making use of speech to lower the authority of a person before whom a judicial proceeding is being heard, which the State claims is against Section 113 (d) of the Penal Code. That authority, says the summons, is Justice Simeon Mdeza, whom it says Chizuma suggests took a bribe.
The second count is making use of speech capable of prejudicing a person against a party to judicial proceedings by indicating in the audio that former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Steven Kayuni is corrupt and compromised.
As we went to press, it was not clear whether Judge Mdeza had lodged a complaint that led the police to launch criminal proceedings against the ACB tsar.
We could also not ascertain whether Kayuni had filed a fresh complaint after President Lazarus Chakwera had ordered her unconditional release and withdrawal of charges for which she was controversially arrested on December 6 2022 following Kayuni’s complaint.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Levison Mangani, who is listed as prosecutor on the charge sheet, said since the case was one, Mdeza and Kayuni were given a count each.
Mangani refused to take further questions, saying he was not allowed to speak to the media.
And National Police spokesperson Peter Kalaya asked for more time to get details. He had not reverted by press time.
In a separate interview yesterday, Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament chairperson Peter Dimba described the police action as suspicious.
He said the committee wants Justice Minister Titus Mvalo to end the circus around Chizuma.
He said: “The committee is wondering why we seem to be entertaining the abuse of the State to persecute Chizuma while treating the one who leaked the audio as an angel.
“Please allay our fears that this is not a ploy to have her criminally charged so she could be interdicted for that would precipitate undesirable consequences.”
High Court of Malawi and Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Kondwani Banda also asked for more time before responding to issues surrounding Mdeza’s purported complaint.
In the viral audio, Chizuma was overheard suggesting to a third party that Mdeza had received a bribe and Kayuni was corrupt and compromised.
The fresh lawsuit has stirred debate on whether Chizuma faces interdiction with criminal charges hanging over her neck.
But veteran prosecutor Kamudoni Nyasulu said in an interview yesterday that the Malawi Public Service Regulations (MPSR) can only be invoked where the charges are sound.
He said once Chizuma has taken plea, she will be served with disclosures of the case.
Said Nyasulu: “The facts would tell whether the charges are sound or defective. Even then interdiction would be based not just on the charges, but also the facts that form the basis of the charges.”
Following Chizuma’s controversial arrest on December 6 2022, the United States of America threatened economic sanctions against Malawi if she was not released unconditionally.
The same day, Mvalo announced in Parliament that Chizuma would be released unconditionally.
Before the latest charges against Chizuma, a private citizen, Frighton Phompho, also moved the court in Mzuzu to open a case against the ACB chief on allegations that she violated the Corrupt Practices Act (CPA) by revealing to a third-party information about United Kingdom-based businessperson Zunneth Sattar, who is under investigation for corruption.
Sattar’s business associate Ashok Kumar Sreedharan also sued Chizuma for alleging that money changed hands to have Ashok released after an arrest.
