Court rebuffs Muhara,2 others application
Chief Resident Magistrate’s Court in Lilongwe has dismissed an application by businessperson Leston Mulli, former chief secretary to government Lloyd Muhara and former secretary to the Treasury Cliff Chiunda to discharge the three in a case they are accused of conspiring to defraud Malawi Savings Bank Debt Collection Company.
On February 13 2024 the three, through their lawyers Frank Mbeta and Lusungu Gondwe, made an application to be discharged since the State is failing to honour an October 11 2022 court order to provide the defence with a Memorandum and Articles of Association for the MSB Debt Collection Company.
They further argued that the State is not ready to prosecute the matter.
Senior assistant chief State advocate Dzikondianthu Malunda objected to the application to discharge the accused, saying issues concerning case management and disclosures will be handled in the High Court where the three are to be committed for trial.
In her ruling, chief resident magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza has thrown out the application for discharge of the accused saying disobeying a court order is not one of the circumstances that qualifies for discharge of an accused.
She stated: “Looking at Section 247 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Code, it is clear the circumstances that will qualify for discharge of an accused and disobeying court order is not one of them.
“Yes, it is disrespectful and a sign of undermining the authority of the court that made the order because court orders are made to be obeyed or complied with and the State need to lead by example but it does not come in as one of the reasons for discharge or to prove unwillingness to prosecute to warrant the discharge of accused.”
Chimwaza added that there is willingness to prosecute as evident in the fact that a Certificate for Summary Procedure Trial was filed in July 2023 and part of the disclosures were already served on defence.
However, she called on the State to comply with the court order so that it seen to be serious in the handling of the matter.
The court has since set March 18, 2024 as the date when it will hear committal proceedings.
In an interview yesterday, Malunda hailed the ruling saying there will be progress on the case.
Mbeta said he was yet to discuss with his clients on the outcome of the application and therefore, could not comment on the ruling.
The suspects are accused of conspiring to defraud MSB Debt Collection Company Limited through an arrangement to repay a debt of K5 billion in 50 years. They are suspected to have committed the offence in 2019.
