Jumbe, others want case discontinued
Former minister of Finance Friday Jumbe and his co-accused Phillip Bwanali and Vincent Mpaluko have written the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) seeking consideration for discontinuation of criminal proceedings against them.
The three, who were arrested in 2004, are accused of abusing K11 million of public funds while serving in the Muluzi administration.
The funds allegedly disappeared from a Sports and Culture Trust Fund when Bwanali was minister of Sports, Mpaluko chaired the fund and Jumbe was minister of Finance.
But private practice lawyer Justin Dzonzi said the best is for the defence to move the courts for discharge as engaging the DPP makes that office prone to abuse.
Through lawyers Golden and Law led by Shepherd Mumba, the three accused argue in their letter dated June 2 2023 that the case has stalled for 19 years because the State, through the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), has failed to furnish them with documents that form the basis of the accusations.
Reads the letter in part: “These three were arrested around October 2004. The State paraded 23 witnesses and the court found that the accused had a case to answer.
“When the first accused person [Jumbe] took to the stand to defend himself, he requested for documents that formed the basis of the accusations against him and his co-accused.
“The court ordered the State to provide the documents to the accused but the State failed to do so and the hearing has stalled to date. You will recall that at some point, the Honourable the Attorney General issued an amnesty and in an interview on 9th January 2022, he made reference to this criminal case as being one of the un-prosecutable cases.”
The lawyers have also asked DPP Masauko Chamkakala to use the discretion he employed in discontinuing the corruption case against former president Bakili Muluzi on their clients.
In 2022, Attorney General Thabo Chakaka-Nyirenda cited the case of Jumbe and others as ideal for amnesty, not discontinuation, saying it had taken ‘too long’ along with 77 other files.
When contacted yesterday, Nyirenda, who refused to speak on the specifics of the matter, said briefly that the Jumbe letter is not suggesting any amnesty as he had suggested.
He said: “The letter is not suggesting any amnesty. It is not asking for an amnesty but a discharge with no benefit to the State. That said, I won’t comment for fear of being misunderstood.”
However, Chamkakala did not respond to our questions on the matter as ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala did.
Mumba said so far there has no response from the DPP’s office, apart from WhatsApp message exchanges that the DPP was looking into the matter.
Jumbe was charged with misuse of office and gross negligence by a public officer for advancing the K11 million to the ministry of Sports which Bwanali allegedly took and gave to Mpaluko for the purchase of some footballs that were said to have been distributed to United Democratic Front candidates in the May 2004 general elections.
