I met ACB on VP case—DPP

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Masauko Chamkakala says his office consulted the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) before filing an application to discontinue a graft case against Vice-President Saulos Chilima.

The DPP’s position expressed on Tuesday in an interview with The Nation comes on the back of an ACB assertion that the graft-busting agency was ready to proceed with the case where the VP stood accused of having received  an unspecified sum of money from United Kingdom-based businessperson Zuneth Sattar to allegedly influence public contracts in his favour.

In a brief written response to The Nation questionnaire on Monday evening, ACB principal public relations officer Egrita Ndala said the bureau had taken note of the court order discharging Chilima following the filing of the certificate of discontinuance by the DPP.

She said: “The bureau was ready to proceed with the case, but the DPP has overall legal powers to discontinue any criminal matter in the country.”

When asked if the application caught the bureau unawares, Ndala said the DPP’s office was better-placed to explain.

But Chamkakala said his office held a consultative meeting with the ACB on the matter.

In an interview, he said: “It’s always good practice to consult all affected institutions in matters like the present one. And of course the office of the DPP and ACB had a consultative meeting before the application was filed with the court.

“Again, the substance of the consultative meeting was exactly that.”

Under the country’s laws, the DPP has powers to discontinue a case, but is required, as provided in Section 99 (3) of the Constitution, to explain the justification to the Legal Affairs Committee within 10 days after the order.

But the revelations have raised concern among political, social and accountability groups who have questioned the transparency and justification behind halting of high profile cases and if the case in question was politically motivated.

National Advocacy Platform chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said the revelations introduce serious concerns about the transparency and justification behind halting cases.

He said: “If the ACB was indeed ready to advance, the lack of a thorough and openly shared rationale for the case’s discontinuation not only undermines the rule of law,  but also raises fears of potential judicial interference or favouritism.

“Ensuring that all prosecutorial decisions, particularly those concerning corruption and public figures, are well-documented and publicly justified is crucial to maintaining public confidence and upholding justice.”

In a separate interview, Political Science Association (PSA) spokesperson Mavuto Bamusi said these actions translate into a systematic undermining of ACB which are weakening the anti-corruption drive.

He said: “It also implies that the arrest of Chilima was politically-motivated, intended to weaken his chances to contest for the presidency in 2025.

“Parliament should scrutinise the decisions by the DPP to discontinue high-profile cases and corruption matters. The Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament should meet on these serious issues urgently. The ACB needs to be supported, not undermined, even by the courts.”

Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace national coordinator Boniface Chibwana in a separate interview said they are concerned that huge resources go down the drain in prosecuting these cases. 

Last month, Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament chairperson Peter Dimba said the DPP was due to appear before the committee when it commences its meetings from May 20 to provide reasons for discontinuance of several high-profile cases.

During hearing of Chilima’s case, the defence legal team sought disclosures on minutes of the Defence Council meeting held on October 16 2020 authorising the procurement of armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and a memorandum of March 2021 from the Malawi Defence Force to President Lazarus Chakwera seeking authorisation to buy APCs from Malachite FZE, a company linked to Sattar, using single sourcing.

But delivering judgement on the preliminary matter, High Court of Malawi Financial Crimes Division Judge Redson Kapindu in April dismissed as premature the defence’s application for disclosures of ‘sensitive documents’.

The judge, however, said if such information would be relevant in the case, in the interest of fair tria, a decision will be made on whether to tender the ‘sensitive’ information or terminate the case altogether.

The discontinuance has come after almost 18 months of court battles and  Chillima was also expected to take plea last Friday.

Chilima was arrested in November 2022 after being named among 84 individuals suspected to have received bribes from Sattar, according to a report the ACB submitted to President Chakwera in June 2022.