DPP explains cases today
Malawians will today and tomorrow learn why Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala discontinued some high-profile criminal cases, including one invoving Vice-president Saulos Chilima as he faces the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament.
Details on a programme for parliamentary committees shows that the Legal Affairs Committee will meet the DPP and his team today and tomorrow to account for the discontinued cases dating back to 2023.
Legal Affairs Committee chairperson Peter Dimba confirmed the meeting with the DPP from today, but declined to comment on the matter further.
He said the committee is yet to adopt the programme, projecting that the programme will be adopted today.
“I cannot say anything about the meeting because we have not yet adopted the programme,” said Dimba.
On the other hand, Chamkakala said he could not speak on the matter before meeting the committee.
Under Section 99(2e and 3) of the Constitution, the DPP has powers to discontinue any criminal proceedings at any stage before judgement and is required to give reasons to the committee within 10 days for purposes of accountability.
Meanwhile, National Advocacy Platform chairperson Benedicto Kondowe has said apart from the committee appreciating reasons for discontinuing of cases, the meetings with the DPP should provide an opportunity for the committee to support calls for the reform of the law, partly proposing that the DPP’s decisions to discontinue cases should be subjected to scrutiny before they are effected.
In an interview yesterday, he said there is need to change the law to either create an institution where the DPP can report to before discontinuing cases, or give the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament more powers so that the DPP can report to the committee before discontinuing cases.
Said Kondowe: “Yes, the DPP has powers to discontinue cases, but when discontinuing the cases, is it done in the best interest of Malawians? Government risks losing money where one decides to sue government over a case that has been discontinued.
“We need to borrow a leaf from other countries like South Africa and Kenya where there is a special organ that DPP reports to before discontinuing cases.”
Besides the Chilima case, other high-profile cases the DPP has discontinued in the past 12 months include the K1.7 billion corruption case involving former president Bakili Muluzi. The DPP already presented a report to the committee on the Muluzi case and also gave an account for the discontinuance.
The other cases are the K16.5 billion tax-evasion case involving Mapeto David Whitehead and Sons (DWS) Limited executives and two Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) customs officers, the State versus former vice-president Cassim Chilumpha and the State versus three directors of Paramount Holdings Limited.
In the Paramount Holdings Limited case, the suspects were answering three charges related to government procurement deals.
The office of DPP has also freed some Cashgate suspects during the past two years after entering into plea-bargaining agreements with them to reimburse the stolen funds.
